Brazil's largest Catholic vigil, a 12-hour festival, combined faith, Mass, and music with an opportunity for young people to receive penance.
SANTA BARBARA D’OESTE, Brazil (LifeSiteNews) -- Catholic priests were overwhelmed when tens of thousands asked for confessions at a Brazil music festival.
On May 17, 40,000 attendees gathered at Santa Bárbara d’Oeste for Brazil’s largest Catholic vigil, called Summer Night, that featured 17 singers, bands and DJs along with Catholic Mass and confessions.
“We were invited and incentivized by Bishop Devair Araújo da Fonseca to be bold and take the festival to a smaller city in the heartland of the State of São Paulo,” Antônio Cerqueira Junior, the founder of Summer Beats and Summer Night, told Crux.
The event, organized by the Diocese of Piracicaba, began at 6 p.m. and continued until 6 a.m. the following morning. During the concert, priests were overwhelmed with the number of Catholics asking for confession.
In fact, at least 40 priests took turns hearing confessions until 6 a.m., but there were still people who were unable to make it through the line.
This is the second time that the Summer Night concert has taken place, with the first occurring in 2014, organized by the city of São Paulo. The event attracted mostly youth, but also families and elderly. While most were Catholics, many secular people also attended, including those from different states of Brazil.
Da Fonseca explained that the concert is important to bring the Catholic faith alive for the young.
“On a visit to Santa Barbara, I talked about it to the city government, and they offered a venue where we could organize a concert,” he recalled.
“We settled up a chapel for adoration, so people could pray during the night. During Mass, I told the audience: That is not just a festival. It’s an encounter with Jesus. It’s about waking up,” he said.
“The beauty of the music and of the visual effects, the experience of being present with so many people at the same event can attract our attention and bring us to Christ. Of course, that faith has to be cared for after that. But it’s a very important start,” he continued.
The Brazil concert is one of many Catholic concerts around the world as the Catholic Church continues to attract new members, especially among the youth.
A recent report found that the number of Generation Z churchgoers in the U.K. has jumped from four percent in 2018 to 16 percent today, with young Catholics outnumbering Anglicans by a two-to-one margin.
Generation Z, often called Gen Z, are those born from 1997 to 2012. This generation is known for many things, including social media addictions and leading the working from home movement.
However, Gen Z is also known for its remarkable return to religion, especially Christianity and Catholicism.
The surge in Catholicism among Gen Z can also be attributed to the rise of Catholic, or at least Christian, social media influencers and celebrities.
Many celebrities, including Russell Brand and Rob Schneider, have revealed their journeys to Christianity.
Similarly, prominent podcasters Candace Owens and Tammy Peterson recently embraced the fullness of Christianity by entering the Catholic Church.
