Sistine Chapel choir sings at royal palace
Choristers from the Sistine Chapel have sung for the first time in a British royal palace, to highlight the work of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity supported by the Prince of Wales that helps persecuted Christians, writes Joanna Moorhead.
The Vatican choir joined the Chapel Royal choir for choral Evensong at St James’s Palace, an ecumenical gesture that echoed ACN’s commitment to tolerance, and prayers were said for both Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury. The royal family was represented by the Duchess of Gloucester, and the Jesuits by priests from Farm Street Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair. Canon Paul Wright, sub-dean of the Chapel Royal, officiated.
ACN supports persecuted and suffering Christians across the world, and particularly in the Middle East. In an address later this same evening address its director, Neville Kyrke-Smith, held up a Coptic cross which he had found in the ashes of a burnt-out church in Egypt just before Easter, and recalled the worlds of Pope St John Paul II, who said that in the shadow of the cross, religious differences pale into the shade.
ACN spokesman John Pontifex said: “The coming together of the Sistine Chapel Choir and the Choir of the Chapel Royal is a remarkable expression of ecumenical engagement; it reflects how we stand together against persecutors, who make no distinction between Christians.”
After Evensong the choirs and congregation moved to Buckingham Palace to join an audience of more than 400 people for an evening concert of music including pieces by Purcell, Weekes, Palestrina, Parry, Byrd and Britten. The Evensong music included Monteverdi’s Cantate Domino, Tomkins’ Responses and Howells’ Nunc Dimittis. The Sistine choir, which has 20 men and 35 boys, also sang at Westminster Abbey and in a concert of sacred music at Westminster Cathedral.
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