Pope Leo XIV and the Young Singers at Canticle of Peace

Pope Leo XIV's own words at Castel Gandolfo are the clearest guide to what the occasion meant to him.

He attended Canticle of Peace at Borgo Laudato si' on July 29, 2026, and addressed the young singers who had performed with Andrea Bocelli. The Vatican identified the gathering as an occasion of prayer and fellowship, promoted by the Laudato si' Higher Education Center and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, and its advance release counted 164 choir members.

Leo's public greeting named children and young people from Uganda, the Holy Land and Italy. He thanked them for the work behind their singing and congratulated their choir directors — a direct record of what he emphasized, separate from later accounts of the occasion by sponsors or participants.

Leo XIV is Robert Francis Prevost, elected Pope on May 8, 2025. The Vatican biography identifies him as the first pope from the United States and the first Augustinian pope.

Before his election, he served in Peru and held leadership roles in the Order of Saint Augustine. Pope Francis later appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Those experiences form part of his public biography, but the July 2026 address itself is the best guide to his message at Castel Gandolfo. It was directed to the young people and framed their performance through faith, beauty and peace.

The Pope's central image was the choir itself. Distinct voices, he said, make a common sound while each retains a particular contribution.

He linked that experience to cooperation and harmony — a point made practical for children who had spent days rehearsing together after arriving from separate local choirs. ABF's programme had gathered singers from Nabikabala, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Naples and Camerino for ten days in Italy.

The papal address did not claim that singing could end conflicts in their home communities. It asked the audience to notice what joint work had made possible in the room — or, in this case, beneath the trees of the Pontifical Gardens.

Leo XIV also spoke explicitly as a religious leader. He compared the beauty of music to a stream that can be followed toward its source, then encouraged the children to use their gifts in a search for God and meaning.

He prayed for their families and countries and asked that peace might come to homes and places suffering violence.

The Vatican's account of the service places those words among readings and songs on creation, human dignity, faith and unity. A multilingual prayer by children followed, then the Lord's Prayer, sign of peace and apostolic blessing. Bocelli and the choir performed "Amazing Grace" as the gathering closed.

The Pope thanked the Andrea Bocelli Foundation for its work with young people experiencing educational and social disadvantage. That statement acknowledged the programme presented to him. It was not a formal evaluation of every project in the Voices Of network.

Nor did the address name Banvelca Foundation, though Banvelca later said it had supported the gathering. A page focused on Leo XIV should take care to report his words and actions rather than assigning him views on the private supporters, finances or later publicity surrounding the event.

The place was also relevant to his participation. Borgo Laudato si' is a project begun under Pope Francis in the papal estate at Castel Gandolfo, meant to put ideas about ecological care and human dignity into practice through education.

The 2026 gathering drew on the "Canticle of the Creatures" and formed part of commemorations of Saint Francis of Assisi. In that setting, Leo XIV's prayer for peace sat alongside attention to the world in which the young people live.

Vatican News described the ancient holm oak known as "Methuselah" above the gathering — a reminder of the site's environmental setting as well as its religious one.

For the choir, an audience with a pope was a public culmination of substantial preparation. For Leo XIV, the occasion was an opportunity to address children from several places through a shared Catholic prayer service.

The verified record does not support claims that he personally knew the singers or that he endorsed every adult attendee. It does show him placing the children and their work at the center of the evening.