Portuguese priest Guilherme Peixoto rose to fame playing electronic dance music near his church in a tiny Portuguese village. Now famous beyond the country’s borders and playing at some of the world’s best nightclubs, his goal — to spread a message of hope through music — has not changed.
On Friday evening, hundreds of partygoers, old and young, flocked to the northern village of Laundos to hit the dance floor as 49-year-old Peixoto, wearing a black shirt with a clerical collar, took to the DJ booth.
One of the first songs of his DJ set included excerpts from Martin Luther King Jr’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech. He also mixed religious songs with techno music.
Photo: Reuters
“Making the night a safe space is always a huge challenge ... and it must start with the music you play, the energy you transmit, the message you share,” Peixoto said as people gathered for the festival, called “Ar de Rock,” or “Rock Air.”
Many asked for selfies and to chat.
His music festival takes place during summer, but Peixoto, who has more than 900,000 followers on Instagram, plays elsewhere too. He performed at Hi Ibiza, one of the world’s top clubs, on Thursday and has concerts scheduled in Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
Photo: Reuters
Last year, Peixoto was invited to perform during Pope Francis’ visit to Portugal for World Youth Day. Music is so important to him that in 2019, during a trip to the Vatican, he asked Francis to bless his headphones.
“Music unites us,” he said.
Peixoto’s passion started young and grew while in seminary. It was on a trip to Afghanistan as military chaplain in 2010, during which he organized social events for soldiers, that he started to explore the world of DJing.
When he returned home, Peixoto enrolled in DJ school and has been playing ever since.
“Being a priest means being among people and helping them understand that if they have values they will not lose them just because they go out at night” to party, he said.
The morning after the Laundos event, which lasted until the early hours, Peixoto officiated a wedding nearby, swapping his black clergy shirt for a long white robe and his headphones for a Bible.
“I can’t take this literature to the dance floor, but I can have the same principles: Talk about Christ, tolerance, faith and love,” he said.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
RSS