BEIRUT: In a packed Beirut nightclub, electronic beats pulsed alongside projected videos of popes in white robes as Catholic priest Father Guilherme Peixoto spun tracks on the turntable.
The performance drew 2,000 attendees, but it also sparked opposition from some Christians in Lebanon, the first time the man known as Padre Guilherme to his 2.6 million Instagram followers says he has faced such vocal objection.
“If you don’t feel comfortable with what I’m doing, please pray for me. Because I cannot do anything more about that. It’s a free world and it needs to be free,” he told Reuters.
Peixoto’s foray into electronic music started in his native Portugal more than a decade ago as a way to raise funds for parish debts. Since then, he has toured the world. Pope Francis blessed his headphones. A recent performance in Slovakia incorporated a special message from Pope Leo.
But in Lebanon, a small yet vocal group, including some clergy, filed a formal complaint seeking to cancel Peixoto’s event, claiming it distorted Christian images and customs and violated the church’s morals.
