The Thaddeus Room of the Shrine of St. Jude was transformed on July 26, 2026, into a concert hall. The band Priests in Concert held a fundraiser to raise money for youth and young adults of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington to attend the next World Youth Day which will be held on August 3-8, 2027, in Seoul, South Korea. It is estimated that it will cost about $5,000 for each person to make the trip to Seoul.
The band consists of local priests who once studied at the Redemptoris Mater Archdiocesan Missionary Seminary in Hyattsville, Maryland, and seminarians currently studying there. Established in 2001, Redemptoris Mater is one of the international diocesan seminaries connected with the Neocatechumenal Way, a worldwide Catholic movement dedicated to adult and family faith formation. The seminary prepares future priests from around the world to serve in the Archdiocese of Washington.
After hearing only the roaring opening number, “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, featuring Father Daniele Rebeggiani, the rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary, it is apparent that all of these men could have been professional musicians had they not responded to God’s call to enter the priesthood. Father Daniele also served as the emcee for the event.
Father John Benson, the pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Prince Frederick, Maryland, played in a classic rock band in high school and considered a career as a musician. At the age of 14, Father Benson’s family, parishioners at Our Lady of Lourdes in Bethesda, encountered the Neocatechumenal Way, through which he attended a pilgrimage in New York in 2008 where he realized God had other plans for him. In 2010, he graduated from high school and entered the seminary. Father Benson said he participates in these fundraisers to give hope to the youth of the Archdiocese of Washington, especially those who can’t imagine going to Seoul, South Korea, and to make it possible for them to hear the Good News and to fully know God.
When asked if he was tired after the long concert of non-stop playing the bass, teaching the audience line-dancing steps, and singing the set list of 19 songs, he laughed and said, “Yes, but I have 8 o’clock Mass in the morning, and then I have to help organize the summer camp.” Such is the life of a parish priest.
The Thaddeus Hall was at full capacity with youth serving food and sodas, selling tickets to the 50/50 raffle, and selling “votes” for the most popular parish priest in the band, which in the end was won by Father Pawel Sass, the new pastor of the Shrine of St. Jude, who had a boisterous crowd of parishioners from his previous parishes in attendance. Father Sass, who is from Poland, played guitar and sang the crowd-pleasing Bob Marley hit “Three Little Birds.” He also led the crowd in prayer at the end of the concert, thanking everyone for attending and supporting the fundraiser.
The 50/50 raffle was won by Elizabeth Lopez, a parishioner at St. Francis of Assisi in Derwood. When called to the stage to present her winning ticket, she told Father Benson that she would like to donate $100 of her winnings back to the youth, which was met with loud applause.
Among those in attendance was Father Edmond Ilg, a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Victories Parish in Harrington Park, New Jersey. When asked why he had driven from New Jersey for this concert, he pointed to guitarist and soloist Father Philip Ilg, the pastor of Holy Family Parish in Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, and he said, “That’s my biological son. I’m a widower, and I entered the seminary after my wife died.” Father Ed proudly took pictures of his son throughout the concert. He shared that he had paid for Father Phil to attend World Youth Day in Toronto in 2002, where the seeds of his vocation were first planted. Father Phil said the fact that he and his father (who was ordained in 2020 – a “Covid kid.” Father Ed joked), are both priests was still hard to process. He said, “We can never know nor question the plans of God.”
Also in attendance were four nuns from the Pallottine Missionary Sisters in Laurel, Maryland, the religious community that founded St. Vincent Pallotti High School. Two of the sisters were from Poland, Sisters Stella and Sister Izabela, and they were both excited to meet the Polish priests in the band. The other two sisters were from Rwanda, Sister Florentine and Sister Sandrine, with all four sisters participating in the line dancing during two of the numbers.
The other members of the Priests in Concert band include Father Jan Pietryga, pastor of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Washington and his brother Franek; Father Pablo Villa, parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Silver Spring; Father Grzegorz Okulewicz, a parochial vicar at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Silver Spring; Father David Narvaez, a parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi Parish who handles lights and sound for the band; Father Saulo Vicente, the vice rector at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary, who called audience members forward to learn the samba; and seminarian Luis Juarez from Houston, who played solo pieces and riffs on the guitar, and played one song with guitar behind his head.
One of the most popular songs of the concert was Father Pablo Villa singing “O Bella ciao,” a crowd pleaser that brought everyone to their feet singing along to the Italian folk song.
(Michelle Ardillo is a freelance writer and parishioner at the Shrine of St. Jude. She is currently at work on a book about the Marian apparitions where Mary appeared to children. See more of her work on her website, www.michelleardillo.com.)
