In a striking fusion of faith and electronic beats, a Portuguese Catholic priest known as Padre Guilherme performed a sold-out DJ set in Beirut, navigating both adulation and controversy in a country with deep religious roots.
From the Pulpit to the Decks
The event, held on Saturday 10 January 2026, saw 52-year-old Guilherme Peixoto command a packed nightclub just hours after leading Mass at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik. For the clergyman from northern Portugal, DJing is a modern evangelistic tool. "The Psalm asks us to praise the lord with all instruments, so now you have this new instrument that came that is electronic music," he explained.
His global profile, boasting 2.6 million Instagram followers, soared after performances at World Youth Day events, including one before Pope Francis in 2023 and another featuring Pope Leo XIV in 2025. Lebanon, where Christians form about a third of the population, was a logical tour stop, especially following Pope Leo's inaugural foreign visit there in November 2025.
Legal Challenge and Divided Reactions
The concert did not proceed without opposition. Eighteen individuals, including Christian officials, petitioned the judiciary to cancel the show, labelling it an insult to the faith. A Lebanese judge rejected the plea. Organisers at the AHM nightclub agreed to heightened security and ensured no religious symbols were displayed; the priest also did not wear his cassock during the performance.
Public reaction split sharply. Critics on social media decried turning faith into an "entertainment show presented on a table of alcohol." Supporters, however, praised the priest for innovatively connecting with youth. "The people attacking him just don’t understand how powerful and needed his work is," one user countered.
A Message of Unity on the Dance Floor
During his set, Padre Guilherme projected images of Pope Francis, Pope John Paul II, and white doves onto large screens. He played a song for Lebanon and waved the national flag, weaving his core message into the performance. "Look to the dance floor, you see respect... if this is possible for people with different race (and) clothes dancing together, why we cannot live like that in the world?" he asked.
This call for coexistence resonated in a nation long plagued by sectarian and political strife, and fresh fears of regional escalation. In his own unconventional way, the DJ priest echoed Pope Leo's November appeal for peace, offering a pulsating, if contentious, vision of unity to Lebanon's youth.
