On September 25, at the Stade de France, Natasha St-Pier and Grégory Turpin will perform Pour que le monde a la vie, a song composed for the visit of Pope Leo XIV to France. Carried by two voices familiar to the general public as well as contemporary Christian music, this creation is intended to be a call to hope, fraternity and peace. Its title takes up a universal evangelical aspiration: to bring about a fuller, fairer and more united life. At the opening of the great youth vigil, in front of some 80,000 expected participants, the duo should give a musical and popular dimension to this prayer gathering.
On the day of Léon XIV's presence at the Stade de France, Friday September 25, the music will not be a banal entertainment. From 6:30 p.m., before the arrival of the Pope around 9 p.m., artists of different styles will welcome some 80,000 young people. The choice of Natasha St-Pier, Grégory Turpin, Monroe, Anisha Jo, Les Frangines, Les Guetteurs and Tagra outlines a strategy of openness, an ecumenical desire: assumed Christian music, mainstream pop, lyrical voices and a bit of urban culture.
Natasha St-Pier and Grégory Turpin will also be present in Lourdes on Sunday September 27. They will sing together again during the mass celebrated by the pope which is to begin at eleven o'clock. A few hours before the big meeting at the Stade de France, Natasha St-Pier told Le Figaro why her duet with Grégory Turpin sheds light on her journey towards God.
Le Figaro: How was the song Pour que le monde a la vie that you are going to perform with Grégory Turpin at the Stade de France born?
Natasha St-Pier. - The idea is not mine, I would have liked it, but it is Grégory Turpin who wanted, when he knew that the Pope was coming to France, to write a song. For his inspiration he delved into the texts of the Apostle John, texts on the love of life instilled by the Holy Spirit. Then he asked me to sing it in a duet with him. I accepted with joy. And little by little, things got bigger. We learned that we were going to sing at the Stade de France for the Pope's arrival, that we were also going to sing in Lourdes.
Can you tell us about your Christian faith, what it brings you, what it represents for you…
Describing your faith in God is complex. I think faith evolves over time, with the years that pass, with our understanding of life, our understanding of ourselves. We are constantly questioning ourselves. I hope, anyway. And it's the same thing for faith. I have often said that faith is not a long, quiet river, that faith is made up of doubts. Thérèse of Lisieux expresses it very well when she talks about her nights of faith. And somewhere, I say to myself: “That’s what really having faith is, it’s being able to doubt, to question ourselves, to question our beliefs,” because blind faith, for me, is not an inhabited faith. Blind faith is believing in something for which we do not have proof, just because we are told to believe in it. It ultimately means not asking questions, not questioning one's own faith, one's own beliefs and not making them grow in the process. I believe, I think, that you do not have the same faith today as the one you had when you were little when you were doing your catechism. I grew up in Canada, which is a country where Catholicism is the state religion. So obviously, my catechism classes were done at school. And what I was taught at 6 years old, I digested it in the same way that we digest these history-geography lessons, without any real personal involvement. And it is with time that we learn to question faith, question the learning we were taught at school and give all of that real value.
Have you had a revelation at any point in your life?
No, I didn't have a revelation. I would have liked to tell you that, like Joan of Arc, I heard voices, or like Bernadette of Lourdes, I had a vision. But no. For me, it’s a much more discreet, much more innocuous journey. It came with maturity, strangely…
Singing as part of a pontifical visit will perhaps give a crazy influence to your interpretation.
Yes, we can hope so. And if there are people who decide to take an interest in what I do, that will be good. In a few days I will release an album, My Little Way, inspired by the values of Thérèse de Lisieux. I also hope that it will give influence to this holy figure because for me, Thérèse is incredibly modern, contemporary and can very easily accompany the faith of a young person today.
The faith of Thérèse of Lisieux seems to inspire you tirelessly…
Yes, I did two songs, lyrics and music, on this album. Since I worked around Thérèse of Lisieux, I dared to write and compose myself. But here, I am not alone. I am extremely well surrounded. You should know that this is the third album that I have made around Thérèse de Lisieux. The first was a setting of his poems to music. Without ever altering one of his words. The second is an album inspired by the Teresian faith, with many songs to the Virgin. I also wanted to put to music the women who inspired the Catholic Church. And this is Thérèse’s values put into song. For example, Thérèse will talk to us a lot about the strength of childhood, the purity of childhood and the way in which the child sees things. I entrusted this theme to Icarus, who gave us a very lovely song about the beauty of childhood and the child's vision, of this capacity to marvel and see things for what they are, and also to live day by day.
