Musicians from around the world came together for the first-ever Catholic Music Awards on July 27 at the Auditorium Conciliazione in Rome. Nicknamed the “Grammys of Catholic Music,” the international event aims to promote, encourage, and recognize the talent of Catholic singers by not only celebrating the Catholic faith but also honoring artists who evangelize through music.
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Finalists were evaluated based on content, artistic value, and technical professionalism, with the final decision made by an international jury of more than 60 experts. Winners were chosen across 19 categories in four languages: Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese.
Among the winners was Nathali Paredes Lozano, singer-songwriter and anchor for “EWTN Noticias,” the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News, who won Best Praise-Worship Song in the Spanish category.
Lozano won for her song titled “Te Pertenezco,” which translates to “I Belong to You.”
She explained at the event that the song was “composed to the heart of Jesus, to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is my greatest devotion. It is that heart that reaches out to take our hearts,” according to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner.
“It is a song of Eucharistic worship, he who is present in the Eucharist, so I am very happy about it too. It’s a song that I love very much and that, I tell you and confess, every time I sing it I also break down,“ she added.
When speaking about the award show she said: “This is the first event of its kind held at a global level, and it’s so important because it values, rewards, and above all highlights the music of so many, many Catholic musicians around the world who offer their voices, who offer the gifts the Lord has given us to praise him, to praise God, our beloved Jesus. What could be better than valuing and supporting this kind of music, which is sometimes lacking?“
Opera singer Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, won for Best Male Singer in the English category. He won for the song “The Song of Saint Pio,” which was written in honor of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) as a gesture of gratitude for the saint’s intercession for the birth of Lamonarca’s son Sebastián.
In 2010, Lamonarca and his wife, Valentina, were expecting their first child — a daughter whom they named Alma. Suddenly, their whole life changed when Alma was delivered stillborn and Valentina had to undergo additional surgeries due to complications from the delivery. Due to those surgeries, it was unlikely that Valentina would ever be able to conceive again.
In their despair, the couple spent their first wedding anniversary in San Giovanni Rotondo, the hometown of Padre Pio. It was here that they were blessed with an opportunity to pray with a first-class relic — a handkerchief with blood stains from Padre Pio. The couple grew closer to the beloved saint and turned to him for his intercession.
Despite suffering multiple more miscarriages, they continued praying and on Dec. 25, 2014, Valentina discovered she was pregnant. Their son Sebastian was born in September 2015.
“When you sing, expressing faith, the emotions you give is much more than anything else. You don’t do this because you have been paid. You don’t do this because you have been rewarded by some things. You do this because you feel a connection with God, with those who love, you feel the faith expand,” Lamonarca said. “So this is the best music that everybody will ever experience.”
Francesco Lorenzi, lead singer of the Italian band The Sun, accepted the award won by his group for Best Italian Catholic Band.
“Never would I have thought 20 years ago that today we would be here near St. Peter’s, awarded as the best Italian Catholic band. And this is something extraordinary: how the Lord can truly guide our lives, heal them, and lead us to where we are called to be, because each of us has a mission,” the Italian singer told the crowd.
Lorenzi is known for his powerful conversion story and was awarded the Pontificated Medal in 2016 by Pope Francis “for the contribution given to Christian humanism in the world.”
This article was originally published by CNA.
