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Bergoglio's heavy-metal priest

Fr. Cesar Scicchitano, above foreground at the microphone, is the parish priest of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in Buenos Aires. "After saying Mass or performing a Baptism," he affirms, "I go out and play [rock 'n roll] in bars, do shows and go to tour with my band." His heavy-metal band is called Los Pecadores, or The Sinners. Scicchitano is the lead singer of the band, singing and playing the electronic keyboard.

When Cardinal Bergoglio was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he used to ask Fr. Cesar's band to perform at many of his Masses. Scicchitano and Bergoglio have been friends for almost two decades, sharing a tight bond the musician likened to a father-son relationship. Today, the priest states: "Francis has rock inside him, because rock is all about breaking down structures."

The priest said he recently received a letter from the Pope urging him "to keep rocking and reinforce his message from onstage."

Fr. Cesar signed a contract with Sony for his next record. On this topic he comments: "His first miracle as Pope could be this - that I will sign with Sony. As Archbishop, he wrote letters presenting me to companies encouraging them to hear my songs, but I had never had the luck to get anywhere with it. Then was not like today, with the great boom of interest around his person."

The priest's main hit is the song "I want a Latin American Pope," written two years before Bergoglio's election. "I also wrote a song about prostitutes at Bergoglio's request," he declared.

Below, some shots of Scicchitano performing with The Sinners. Last row, he poses inside the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with his long, dirty hair, wearing leather jacket and funky glasses.

Data and photos taken from China Post (here), Religion en Libertad (here) and a video on his hit song (here).

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Posted February 23, 2014

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