Pope star: the rock album made by Pope Francis
The current Pope, Leo XIV, is an American. A fact people found absolutely bonkers when he was elected in the 2025 Conclave because it seemed stranged that a literal pope could be somewhat relatable.
Now, to be clear, this was not the full story with Leo himself. This was a man who, yes, grew up in Chicago, and his formative years were spent in his home country. However, he spent 20 years living and working in Peru while taking on missionary work all over the world. He probably spent more time in Rome in the 1990s than in his home town of Chicago, but the idea of a Pope that might have actually seen Space Jam is lunacy.
Yet, that relatable streak is exactly the kind of change the Catholic church has been trying to enact for several years now. You might not have noticed, but the Church has been having an image problem after it emerged that it had been committing and covering up the sexual abuse of children for decades. Maybe, even centuries. A few people talked about it. Concerns were raised.
That is a brush that, once you’re tarred with it, it’s basically impossible to get away from it. Neither should it, to be absolutely clear, but the disturbing truth is that the Catholic Church is now doing just that. Catholicism is on the rise among young people, and part of that image change is down to electing a relatable, relatively young pope that could capitalise on all the people on TikTok who make Real Housewives-style fan edits of the 2024 movie Conclave.
However, one of the most ridiculous ways that the Church ever tried to update its image came during the reign of Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis, when the man divinely ordained to spread the word of God turned to the music of the devil.
Why did the pope make a rock album?
Now, obviously, I’m using ‘music of the devil’ in the loosest way possible. Ol’ Frankie wasn’t exactly up there shredding through Behemoth covers, his Papal robes replaced with bondage gear and all the crucifixes in the vicinity turned upside down. Especially that last part. The Vatican is already chock full of upside-down crucifixes; it’s a fairly common way of showing Christian piety. However, this is very much an album of “rock music”.
Francis did not sing on the record, although it would be very funny to see him give his best Ronnie James Dio impression, but instead, Wake Up! Music Album with His Words and Prayers is a collection of his sermons set to music. Specifically, they were set to music by a group of Italian artists and producers curated by Don Giulio Neroni. While most of the album sounds more or less like a new age album from the 1980s, all synth woodwinds and soundscapes, there are moments when the Papal thermostat is turned up a little.
These moments, like on the album’s lead single and sole track in English, ‘Wake Up! Go! Go! Forward!’ were arranged by Tony Pagliuca, latterly of the Italian progressive rock band Le Orme. I’m sure the sound of Pope Francis urging us all to wake up over a basic distorted guitar riff is someone’s idea of a good time, but not mine. Perhaps, that’s the nature of faith. Looking at something that goes against all sense of taste and accepting it anyway as the closest thing to a message from God you’ll ever understand.
The most Christ-like thing to do here is to know when you’re being conned. Wake Up!