Christmas concert in the Vatican

By Joachim Teigen

Details of the annual Vatican Christmas concert were announced this week. The two projects whose work will be aided by the sale of concert tickets are the “Don Bosco Mission” working for the improvement of conditions for refugees in Uganda, and the “Scholas Project” aiming to provide education for refugees in Iraq. The concert will take place on December 15^th at 18.30 in the Paul VI audience hall in the Vatican.

Refugees in focus

The theme of this year’s concert is “Refugees”. With migration issues very present in public awareness, this concert will try to shed light on the situation of refugees who can travel no further than to neighbouring countries. In the wake of the war in South Sudan, for example, millions of refugees have sought shelter in Uganda. This is where the Salesians of the “Don Bosco Mission” do their share to meet the refugees with an hospitable welcome. They provide the youth with specialised education, which they get to put to use through micro-work inside the camp. The “Scholas Ocurrentes Project” does similar work in Erbil, Iraq, where it also aims to provide collaboration between university students in Italy and the ones who find themselves in the refugee camps.

Love of music and neighbour

Ever since 1993, the Paul VI Audience Hall has hosted the Vatican Christmas concert, during which a wide range of Italian and international artists perform free of charge. The concert has always sought to bring high quality music together with solidarity, thus countering the stereotype of many a commercial Christmas concert by putting into action the message of the Christmas season.