The Portuguese priest Guilherme Peixoto, known internationally as the “DJ priest,” will perform on November 28 at Madrid’s Las Ventas bullring in an electronic music session that is close to selling out all its tickets more than six months before the event.
The performance, organized by the traveling festival REBELS, will bring together around 3,000 people inside the Madrid arena and confirms the growing international popularity of a priest who has made melodic techno sessions one of his main public trademarks.
The event will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. under a structure installed in the Las Ventas ring. The remaining tickets are on sale from 27 euros.
A priest turned international phenomenon
Guilherme Guimarães Peixoto, 50, is a Catholic priest and military chaplain in the Portuguese Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He gained worldwide notoriety after performing as a DJ at the 2023 World Youth Day in Lisbon, where he appeared spinning music dressed in a clerical collar and clerical attire.
Since then, his presence on social media and international festivals has continued to grow. He currently has millions of followers and combines his priestly duties with large-scale musical performances.
The priest himself maintains that he uses music as an instrument to reach young people distant from the Church and to convey positive messages through a contemporary cultural language.
A figure that continues to generate controversy
However, the growing popularity of the Portuguese priest continues to stir criticism in various ecclesiastical circles, especially over the risk of diluting the priestly identity within formats typical of the entertainment industry.
Father Guilherme’s performances usually take place in festival-style environments, with electronic music, light shows, and dynamics very similar to those of any major contemporary spectacle.
Recently the Portuguese priest headlined a techno session in the middle of Plaza de Mayo mixing religious images and excerpts from papal speeches with electronic music at the massive tribute held in Buenos Aires in memory of Pope Francis.
Weeks later, another controversy arose in France when the Diocese of Rouen canceled the planned performance of Father Guilherme at the celebrations of St. Joan of Arc, after criticism grew over the appropriateness of incorporating such a spectacle into a religious context with strong symbolic weight.
The debate on priestly identity
The criticism of this phenomenon does not usually focus solely on electronic music as such, but on the public role a priest adopts within these types of formats.
The underlying issue affects the priestly identity itself and the way the faith is presented publicly. When the priest appears integrated in spectacle-like dynamics, some observers consider that there is a risk of reducing his mission to a flashy or emotional element disconnected from the spiritual and sacramental dimension proper to the ministry.
At the same time, the rise of large religious events in Madrid —from youth gatherings to concerts and mass celebrations— reflects a search for new languages to connect with a society that is increasingly secularized.