Corpus Christi youth choir will sing at International Congress in Rome and Vatican City

One hundred ten members, including 50 singers, of the Cathedral Youth Choir of Corpus Christi will join youth from around the world in the 40th International Congress of Pueri Cantores to be hosted in Rome and Vatican City, from Dec. 26–Jan. 2, 2016. Pueri Cantores is the official student choral organization of the Catholic Church.

The choir will consist of more than 5,000 singers, including more than 1,000 from the US, including boys and girls from fourth through 12th grade. The Cathedral Youth Choir will serve as the lead choir representing the 1,000 members from United States. They will have the honor of singing with the other lead choirs from other countries on stage with the Holy Father at Nervi Hall and next to the High Altar at St. Peter’s Basilica for the Holy Father’s New Year's Day Mass.

Lee Gwozdz, director of the Corpus Christi choir and president of the American Federation of Pueri Cantores, will also conduct the 6,000 singers for the International Prayer for Peace, which will take place prior to the Papal Audience during the week. This is the first time in International Congress of Pueri Cantores history that an American conductor will conduct an International Pueri Cantores event.

The Congress, held every five years, will be a choral extravaganza. The choirs will sing at several locations, including an opening ceremony in St. Peter’s at the Sala Nervi (Paul VI Hall) on Dec. 28.

The choirs will sing a National Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome on Dec. 29 and will participate in a Carols from Around the World Christmas celebration on Dec. 31. Choirs will sing carols expressive of the music of their countries.

“Catholic youth choirs from around the world will be celebrating a once in a lifetime opportunity to sing in prominent churches located in Rome and Vatican City. What sets Pueri Cantores apart is the quality of the music, the great conducting and the beauty of the churches where choirs sing,” said Jan Schmidt, executive director of the American Federation of Pueri Cantores, which is based in Southern California,

The International Federation of Pueri Cantores, founded in 1944 in France, was officially endorsed by the Holy See in 1965 and currently is part of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

There are about 40,000 youth and children in hundreds of Pueri Cantores choirs composed of boys and girls, aged nine through 18 around the world. The American Federation of Pueri Cantores was founded in Chicago in 1953 and has grown to more than 150 choirs in 72 U.S. dioceses.