“The most important message I’d like people who watch the musical to take home is: ‘I was asked to tell you—not to convince you.’ This is what Bernadette told her parents, the police, the church authorities, and I think it’s a beautiful call for action or a reminder for us that if you try to convince people, you’re probably not doing the right thing. It’s very important to bear witness,” stated Pierre Ferragu, US Producer of St. Bernadette of Lourdes Musical.
A musical about St. Bernadette, visionary of Our Lady of Lourdes, premiered in Rome on January 14th for 1,600 low-income guests.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and the Papal Almoner’s Office invited refugees and the poor to the performance in the auditorium on Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square.
Ferragu noted, “You know what Bernadette said when she was offered a great opportunity in Paris and when she was asked, ‘What do you want to do next?’ She said, ‘I like to serve the poor’ and I think it’s a very important charism of Lourdes to serve the poor and the sick. So, creating this opportunity, like putting the poor at the centre of the development process of the show is very beautiful.”
Premiering in France in 2019, Bernadette of Lourdes tells the story of 14-year-old Saint Bernadette and her visions of the Virgin Mary.
During the Jubilee Year, the musical runs in Rome for a month before touring Italy, with plans to expand to the U.S. and Latin America in 2026.
Ferragu has big hopes for the musical’s impact in the United States:
“I think that touring the show city by city and diocese by diocese it’s a great opportunity to make the Church visible in a very positive way. To mobilize members of the Church. To get parishes and Catholic organizations and the Catholic hierarchy to get involved in a great event. You know, the show is coming into a town or a city for a week or two, it’s a great opportunity to showcase the Church. It’s also a great opportunity for very soft evangelization.”
Adapted by Jacob Stein
