ROME (CNS) -- In a square not far from the Vatican, dozens of marching bands played their instruments -- each band played a different song, and several played at the same time.
But when Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, arrived May 11 to celebrate Mass, the drums, tubas and trombones were set on the ground, and a choir with organ accompaniment took over.
Most of the bands and folkloristic dance troupes gathered for the Mass in Rome's Cavour Square were from Italy, but there also were groups from Germany, Mexico, Portugal and the United States participating in the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment.
Along with circus performers and carnival workers, the bands and dancers had spread out across Rome May 10, filling some of the city's most famous piazzas with music and laughter.
"It is a special day," Archbishop Fisichella said at the beginning of Mass. "May what you do with such enthusiasm, with such passion become the music, the song that reaches God's ears."
In his homily, the archbishop noted how often television and newspaper coverage of the conclave and election of Pope Leo XIV spoke of the Catholic Church having 1.4 billion members.
But he asked the jubilee pilgrims to look at the day's first reading from Acts 13 where it discusses the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. The reading said, "All who were destined for eternal life came to believe, and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region."
"In the Scriptures, it's not so much about the growing number of believers but about spreading the word of God," he said. "And it is our mission to spread it."
Flaviano Ravelli, a pastoral worker whose family ran carnivals, was at the Mass with a small group of circus and carnival workers from northern Italy. "The world of carnivals is very busy on Sundays, so many of our people aren't here," he said.
"Carnivals and circuses distract people from their phones; they bring people together, especially families," he said. "When a child wins a prize at the carnival, he rejoices, but so do his parents."
Alessandro Potenza, like many of the musicians at the Mass, is part of a smalltown band called Fedele Zotta from Genzano di Lucania in southern Italy.
"Music is also prayer," he said, so having a special jubilee for marching bands "is perfect."
"We bring people together and make peace," he said.
After the Mass, the groups formed a parade, marching less than a mile to St. Peter's Square for the recitation of the "Regina Coeli" prayer with Pope Leo.
