Dancehall megastar Shaggy has made history again, taking Jamaican culture to Vatican City for Christmas Eve, where he was the only Western Hemisphere solo act to headline the 29th edition of the Christmas Concert 2021.

As well as being a main act, Shaggy also met the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis before his performance, possibly the first Dancehall / Reggae to do so, as Jamaican artists have always been vocal against the Vatican since the late Lee. Scratch Perry called it “City of Iniquity” in his six-minute song, Confusing smoke signals back in 1978.

the Pagan church The singer took to Instagram to share photos and video clips of the event sponsored by the Congregation for Catholic Education.

“Merry Christmas everyone! I recently had the pleasure of playing a Vatican Christmas charity concert in Rome… it was a great experience, we brought a bit of Jamaican culture 🇯🇲 to the Vatican and at the same time raised money for a good cause #Haiti and #LEbanion. Here are some highlights, I hope you will enjoy, “noted Shaggy.

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The Vatican Christmas Concert 2021 was recorded on Thursday evening of December 16 at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome and was broadcast on Christmas Eve on the Italian national broadcaster “Canale 5”, in prime time and was also broadcast on Mediaset Infinity Platform.

The concert was accompanied by the Italian Film Orchestra conducted by master Adriano Pennino. Shaggy had posted pictures of scenes from Rome on December 15th to announce his arrival in Italy which he captioned: “Roma !!”

According to itali24news.com, the first edition of the Christmas Concert took place in 1993 in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican and aimed to highlight the project of the Vicariate of Rome called 50 Churches for Rome 2000, and as a means of fundraising “For its realization”.

The publication said the artists involved in the 2021 Christmas Concert would contribute to “various charity and solidarity projects coordinated by the foundations promoting the concert, or the Fondazione Schools Meeting e Don Bosco Missions”.

“Among the projects that will be funded through the 2021 Christmas Concert, there will be that of the Pontifical Scholas Réunion Foundation, which will provide assistance for the socio-emotional development of Haitian children and adolescents. Concretely, an educational space will be created for children of Port-au-Prince aged 6 to 9 and an educational process for adolescents aged 12 to 16, ”he noted.

In Lebanon, he noted the Don Bosco Onlus Missions in Lebanon “the Salesians who manage the Don Bosco Youth Center will take care of various activities and spaces to guarantee high quality technical and professional education and training”.

According to Vatican News, the Pope greeted the artists and thanked them for the fundraising support.

Other non-Italian performers included 2Cellos from Croatia, Anggun from Indonesia, Emma Muscat from Malta and the Virginia Union Gospel Choir from the United States.

According to Vatican News, Pope Francis had told artists that they “used their talents to spread the tenderness, joy and hope of Christmas.” He also said that there were “other pandemics” that prevent the spread of the culture of dialogue and inclusion.

“Your music and songs will help open hearts so that those who suffer are not forgotten -” which brings joy to so many families who wish to give their children a future through education, “said the Pope .

“In the cave of Bethlehem, hope for humanity was kindled”, declared the Pope. But he added that the pandemic has unfortunately worsened the “school lag for millions of children and adolescents excluded from all educational activities,” added the pontiff.

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Jamaican artists Rastafarian Reggae and Dancehall have long been known to devote many of their songs to criticism of everything relating to the Vatican and the papacy.

In Dancehall, the escape of the Original Fireman Anthony B was Late Pon Rome, released in 1996, where he denounces Pope Paul for his “scissors and comb” while declaring that “Mount Zion is a just throne”.

Once again in Dancehall, Capleton also had his share of the whip for all things papal with his 1994 hit. Chalice, where he called on all Rastafarian mansions to use their worship rituals to collapse the Vatican, Rome and the Pope and even Queen Elizabeth II and wipe out the Ku Klux Klan.

Capleton asked the Orthodox Rastafarians “to enlighten the chalice meck wi bun dung Rome”; Nyahbingi to sing the Nyahbinghi mek wi sing the manure Rome and the 12 tribes of Israel to “shake the shaker mek wi shake the manure Rome”. For the Bobo Ashanti mansion, Capleton urged them to “beat the drum kette and meck wi beat the manure of Rome.”

Lee Scratch Perry had set alight in 1978, with Confusing smoke signals, which he recorded following the controversial election of Pope John Paul II after the mysterious and sudden death of Pope John Paul I, whose 33-day reign was the shortest in papal history.

According to reports, conspiracy theories have spread like wildfire over the cause of John Paul I’s death on September 8, 1978.

The song by The Upsetter was, among other things, a commentary on the billows of black smoke billowing from the Vatican chimneys, as the upper echelons of the Catholic Church deliberated on who would be the new Pope. The black smoke was an indication that there was a stalemate over who should be the new Pope.

The smoke, according to the Hanover native in the song, was a representation of Black and Rastafari reigning supreme “for Jah would never give power to a bald man.”

Perry also produced Max Romeo’s Vatican fire, which aimed at the Pope, noting “fire for the Vatican, blood for the Pope-man”.

of the Trinity Death of Pope Paul and gone extolled the virtues of Jah while celebrating that “Paul’s throne has become dung,” while Big Youth in Pope in Pope Paul Feel It, also lambasted the Pope.

In 1981, Toyan had also joined the Vatican denigration clique with Pope in a corner, pointing out that he would “lick dem wid di Macka Bible” to show them that he was, among other things, “a disciple of Jah-Jah”.