Patti Smith is to play this year’s Vatican Christmas Concert in Rome next month.
The punk singer will perform live at the Italian city’s Auditorium Conciliazione on December 13 following a personal invitation from Pope Francis, according to The International Business Times. The entire event is set to be broadcast live on TV.
Smith’s booking has evoked a mixed response from Christian groups, with Catholic organisation Portosalvo apparently describing the decision as “blasphemous”, following the singer’s 1975 song ‘Gloria’, which famously featured the lines: “Jesus died for somebody’s sins, but not mine”.
The singer met Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square last April, where the pair shook hands.
The Vatican Christmas Concert will also feature a performance from “singing nun” Sister Christina Scuccia, who recently won Italy’s version of The Voice and covered Madonna.