On 8th June, Ana (I13) performed with a choir of over 1000 people for Pope Leo XIV at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Read her statement below
I was always taught that singing is praying twice. Since I was very young, I have been part of choirs, including Downside’s Schola Cantorum.
The year Pope Leo XIV visited Madrid, where I was living at the time, I found the opportunity to audition to be part of the choir that would be singing to him during his visit. Through social media and the theatre school where I went to dance classes, I discovered the opportunity. The song I auditioned with was Mr Tambling’s Ave Maria, which holds a special place in my heart, as I learnt it from him as part of the Schola Cantorum, and later in the 2020 Virtual Choir Service.
The event was held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, where Real Madrid usually plays, and the Archdiocesan community of Madrid gathered, with an attendance of over 80,000 people.
This was not the first time I had sung for a Pope. In February 2013, I went to Rome with Downside and had the opportunity to attend one of Pope Benedict XVI’s last audiences. A group from the Schola Cantorum sang Jerusalem, and it is one of my most cherished memories of that trip.
The space was filled with joy and community, with more than 1,000 voices and a full orchestra singing traditional songs such as Madrid, Madrid and the Hymn to Our Lady of Almudena. I was very surprised by the work of two young priests and songwriters, Luispo (Luis Poveda) and Ignacio Ozores Puig, who wrote two songs during their vocational retreats: Petrus (In illo uno unum) and Ungidos (Anointed).
The motto of the apostolic visit was Alza la Mirada, coming from John 4:35: “Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.”
Looking back, both experiences of singing in the presence of a Pope, first in Rome with Downside and later in Madrid,have stayed with me as powerful reminders of the enduring connection between music, faith and community. They have also reinforced something I learnt at Downside: that singing can be much more than making music it is a way of bringing people together.