During the day before Christmas, during the traditional inauguration of the crib in St. Peter’s Square, this time in the presence of Pope Francis, the Order of the Ministers of the Sick was the protagonist of a one of the musical moments of the event which was broadcast live on TV by Telepace.

Fr. Sergio Palumbo M.I. and Fr. Modeste Ouedraogo M.I., together with Eric Daniel, performed two pieces from the album ‘ARSPOP 1 – Christmas nee Africa’, ‘Astro del Ciel’ (‘Star of Heaven’) and ‘Cantano i Cherubini’ (‘The Cherubs Sing’).

This project, the outcome of an idea of Fr. Palumbi and Maestro Mauro Spenillo, offers some of the most famous Christmas carols reworked by a group of artists with an ‘African’ approach, utilising vocal parts in the Moré dialect and rhythms from Burkina Faso, a country where the Camillians have been missionaries for more than forty years.

The two thrilled Camillians than gave their Christmas good wishes to all those listening with a special thought addressed to the sick.

By buying ‘ARSPOP 1 – Christmas Nee Africa’ (from iTunes store or directly at the generalate house of the Camillians, Piazza della Maddalena 53, Rome) support is given to the populations of the Philippines that were struck by the earthquake and the typhoon Haiyan.