The online seminar “Popular Entertainment, an ambassador world of joy and hope” took place on Tuesday, 9 September, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The event was co-organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Migrants Foundation.
This was an opportunity to learn more about the reality of popular entertainment and its link to the Catholic faith, following on from the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment held on 10 and 11 May.
Hope, a jubilee theme, was discussed in terms of popular religiosity, but also as a value present on stage. Through this spiritual lens, attention was turned to the present as well as the past, with a global vision of a world of particular traditions and folklore, which must confront the reality of globalization.
At the inauguration, the Director General of the Migrants Foundation, Monsignor Pierpaolo Felicolo, recalled how “Joy and celebration are the soul of popular entertainment”, quoting Pope Francis, who in his 2023 Audience with travelling entertainment professionals spoke to them of their vocation to “sow joy”.
Institutional figures and university professors linked to the world of popular entertainment and its pastoral care took the floor.
Don Mirko Dalla Torre, Diocesan and Regional Director of Migrants Foundation, explained how this seminar arose from the “need to help us, as pastoral workers, to welcome, understand and share the daily lives of people in the entertainment industry”.
In conclusion, Cardinal Fabio Baggio, Undersecretary of the DPIHD, reiterated how "The Church, with its pastoral care of popular entertainment, has chosen to walk alongside the realities of popular entertainment. It is a Church ‘going forth’, which enters tents, caravans, squares, and celebrates faith where life happens”. Here is the complete programme.
Last May’s Jubilee brought together thousands of artists who not only crossed the Holy Door but also performed in numerous squares throughout Rome. On Sunday, after Mass in Piazza Cavour, pilgrims marched in procession to St. Peter's Square, where they attended Pope Leo XIV's first Regina Caeli. (for more information)
