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[00:00.04]Guilherme Peixoto,

[00:02.24]a religious official in northern Portugal,

[00:05.72]has been busy this month.

[00:08.00]He celebrated religious services,

[00:11.00]watched over remembrances for the dead,

[00:14.48]and prepared electronic music

[00:17.16]for his next international DJ performance.

[00:21.12]DJ, short for disc jockey,

[00:24.96]is a person who plays recorded music

[00:27.96]on the radio or at a gathering.

[00:31.32]For this 49-year-old Catholic priest,

[00:34.92]music has become an important way to reach people

[00:39.16]at a time when religion is becoming less popular

[00:43.20]— especially among young people.

[00:45.76]"With electronic music, I can take some message,

[00:50.16]I can be where young people are," Peixoto said recently.

[00:54.72]"They can think, ‘If it's possible for a priest to be DJ,

[01:00.04]it's possible for me to like music,

[01:02.68]and festivals, and be Christian.'"

[01:06.72]Peixoto became more well known

[01:09.20]when the organizers of World Youth Day in Lisbon

[01:13.64]asked him to "wake up the pilgrims" at 7 a.m.

[01:18.16]before Pope Francis' open-air Mass in August.

[01:23.04]When Peixoto was first sent to the village

[01:26.32]of Laúndos in the mid-2000s,

[01:29.56]the area needed money to pay

[01:32.12]for work done on the main church.

[01:34.96]But local people were tired of normal activities

[01:39.24]such as bake sales and door-knocking campaigns to raise money.

[01:44.60]So Peixoto called on the youth music groups

[01:48.36]to start karaoke events for support.

[01:51.64]Within a few years, debts were paid off,

[01:55.44]church repairs were completed,

[01:57.80]and Peixoto was taking professional DJ classes.

[02:01.80]"In the beginning it was strange, but now it's the norm.

[02:06.36]They understood the priest is also a person,"

[02:09.88]said Tania Campos,

[02:11.72]who was born and raised in Laúndos.

[02:14.88]Food and drink sales, as well as other donations,

[02:19.52]all go back to the church,

[02:21.84]which is readying for a big building project:

[02:25.40]a new center for youth activities.

[02:28.32]"This is why I'm happy to be here," said Andreia Flores,

[02:33.56]who belongs to Peixoto's second parish

[02:36.36]in the nearby village of Amorim.

[02:39.52]"Faith is to make others happy."

[02:42.76]For Peixoto, DJing has become an important way

[02:46.88]to spread religious messages.

[02:49.76]"I'm making these messages arrive

[02:52.24]where the church is not," he said of performances

[02:55.88]such as one at a recent Halloween festival

[02:59.36]with some 30,000 people.

[03:01.88]There, he re-mixed electronic dance beats

[03:06.12]with words from Pope Francis' statements

[03:09.20]about protecting the environment.

[03:11.96]Peixoto added with a laugh, "It's not so much

[03:16.00]— two-three sentences from the Pope

[03:18.68]— but if I wasn't there, it's no sentence.

[03:21.80]It's like a small seed,

[03:23.96]and the Holy Spirit will do his work."

[03:27.60]In fact, it was another document from Pope Francis,

[03:32.00]telling religious officials to go find "the lost sheep,"

[03:36.04]that pushed Peixoto to work harder on his music skills.

[03:41.28]The hope was that music

[03:43.28]could become a way to reach those

[03:45.76]who might never step inside a church.

[03:49.16]In Portugal, about half of young people

[03:53.00]say they have no religion.

[03:55.32]Most participate less in services,

[03:58.96]have less confidence in the Church,

[04:01.68]and pray less than older generations,

[04:05.08]says a recent study

[04:07.12]by the Catholic Portuguese University in Braga.

[04:11.84]Peixoto plans to continue to develop his DJ skills

[04:16.32]to bring a Christian message

[04:18.80]to people who might have never heard of Jesus

[04:22.44]— while remaining committed

[04:24.12]to all regular church activities.

[04:26.96]"It's very important to me to not only be the priest DJ,

[04:32.52]but be the shepherd of the community," Peixoto said recently.

[04:37.52]"The world is not so closed to Jesus.

[04:41.28]But you need to speak the language."

[04:45.20]I'm John Russell.

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Words in This Story

priest – n. a person who has the authority to lead or perform ceremonies in some religions and especially in some Christian religions

pilgrim – n. someone who travels to a holy place

karaoke – n. a form of entertainment in which people sing the words to the songs they choose

donation – n. something (such as money or food) that you give in order to help an organization

faith – n. strong religious feelings or beliefs

shepherd – n. a person who takes care of sheep — sometimes used figuratively