Nearly 500 children and young people will fill the churches and streets of Ciutadella with sacred music between October 10 and 12. The Menorcan city has been chosen to host the VI National Congress of Pueri Cantores, which will be held on the island for the first time and will bring together choirs from different parts of Spain, along with a Polish schola and representatives from the Italian and international federations.
The event will highlight a tradition closely linked to Catholic worship: the formation of children and young people to serve the liturgy through singing. Around this vocation the Pueri Cantores movement was born, now present in numerous countries and organized through national federations.
The episcopal motto of Villalonga will mark the congress
The gathering will take as its theme Veritatem facientes in caritate, an expression from Saint Paul —“doing the truth in charity”— which Monsignor Gerard Villalonga adopted as the motto of his episcopal ministry. The current bishop of Menorca had already chosen it when he was ordained a priest and, after his appointment as prelate of the diocese, presented it again as a guiding principle of his pastoral work.
InfoVaticana reported in 2023 the explanation that Villalonga himself offered about this Pauline phrase, which he described as “programmatic.” On that occasion, the bishop defended the need to proclaim the truth even when it proves uncomfortable, but always from charity.
The motto will also have a musical expression during the congress. Villalonga has written the lyrics of the hymn prepared for the occasion, while Víctor Estapé has composed the music. The piece will be premiered during the opening events.
From the Procession of Light to the Mass in the Cathedral
The program will take the singing of the Pueri Cantores beyond the internal activities of the congress. On Saturday, October 10, at 8:30 p.m., participants will depart from different parishes in the so-called Procession of Light, which will end at Plaça des Born. There the inaugural event and a prayer for peace will be held.
Sacred music will once again take center stage on Sunday evening, when the church of El Socorro will host the Gala Concert at 8:00 p.m. The gathering will conclude in the setting proper to the mission that gives meaning to the movement: the liturgical celebration. On Monday the 12th, at 10:00 a.m., Monsignor Villalonga will preside over the closing Mass in the Cathedral of Menorca.
The organization presents the congress under the mission of “singing God’s peace to the world,” combining the musical formation of young people with their participation in the liturgical life of the Church.
A Menorcan schola with 17 years of history
Behind the arrival of the congress in Ciutadella is the Schola of the Pueri Cantores of the Cathedral of Menorca. Cristina Álvarez founded the group in 2009 and continues to lead a project that combines musical preparation with the formation of its members.
The 2026 edition comes, therefore, as the schola marks 17 years of activity and its director reaches 25 years of personal involvement with the Pueri Cantores movement.
For the young Menorcans, moreover, the calendar will not end in October. Two months later they will travel to Rome, invited by the Italian Federation of Pueri Cantores. The planned stay in December includes an audience with Pope Leo XIV and participation, on the 12th, in a celebration at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Ciutadella congress and the subsequent trip to Rome will thus place the schola of the Cathedral of Menorca in two national and international gatherings during the same year, keeping as a common element the service of children’s and young people’s voices to the liturgy and to sacred music.