the group’s welcome song “Papamobile”

“Come and sing,

It’s the Pope who visits us,

Kom iedereen

De Paus is in Belgium”

The chorus of the song “Todos” underlines the event that constitutes the arrival of the Pope, since Francis rarely visits European countries, and Belgium has not seen the shadow of a papal cassock since the arrival of John Paul II in 1995. The Papamobile group, made up of the Izoard siblings (Marin, Théau, Barthélémy and Augustin, aged 24 to 30) and their friend Rama, decided to mark the occasion. The title of the song refers to the Pope’s words spoken during World Youth Day in Lisbon in 2023, on which occasion the group was formed. “There is room for everyone in the Church. All, all, all,” Francis repeated. “This word from the Pope touched me a lot,” confides Marin, “his coming to Belgium is an event for the whole country, not just for Catholics.” The video for the song shows the musicians on the roof of the immense Koekelberg Basilica, precisely to propel this call to meet the Pope throughout the country. “In Belgium many people are still baptized, but have distanced themselves from the Church. The Belgian Church is not spared from the sufferings affecting the universal Church. However, WYD seems to have given new impetus to the A festival was organized following them by the French-speaking Belgian pastoral ministry, bringing together many young people from various places and communities, which I had never experienced before. This song is intended to be a simple and unpretentious way of spreading a. message of peace, linked to the Gospel, whether you are Christian or not” explains Marin. The young man met the Pope in 2022, during the preparations for WYD. On this occasion, a small Belgian delegation asked the sovereign pontiff to come and visit them.

For WYD, the group Papamobile composed a first song, “Levantar” (“get up”), which has had more than 60,000 plays on Spotify. “Our music is simple, it manifests the spirit of celebration, so it speaks beyond Catholic circles, and it unites” underlines Marin.

“At the King Baudouin stadium there will be thrills” sings the group. It is there that the Pope will celebrate a mass on September 29. “Maybe we’ll have the chance to perform before the celebration!” Marin hopes.