Not just a special concert, but also works of art in the sky and so many messages of peace and hope at the Grace for the World concert, held on 13 September in St. Peter’s Square, in the heart of the Vatican.

Grace for the World took place last Saturday (on 13 September 2025) in Rome. Held in St. Peter’s Square, inside Vatican City, it was not just a spectacular concert.

The evening marked a historic occasion: the first time a music event had been held inside Bernini’s majestic, enchanting marble columns. The remarkable Roman night transcended the boundaries of music and embraced visual art.

The concert, called ‘Grace for the World’, was co-directed by Pharrell Williams and maestro Andrea Bocelli, along with the Holy See. 

Everyone worked together to provide the audience with an extraordinary experience, made all the more memorable by something never seen before: a stellar aerial spectacle unfolded as around three thousand drones created incredible moving images that lit up the night sky.

Michelangelo and Joy

The drones belonged to Nova Sky Stories (founded by Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk’s younger brother) and created a myriad of bright shapes in the dark, inspired by the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. Notably, there was The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo, the face of Pope Francis, and the Pietà – also by Michelangelo and also a masterpiece – though the sculptures themselves remained in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Toward the end of the evening, the word ‘joy’ was also projected into the sky and stayed hanging in the air for a considerable amount of time.

Grace For The World – a name that already conveys a message of hope – was open to the public and brought together over eighty thousand people gazing up at the lights. Some exceptional singers performed alongside the display, including Andrea Bocelli and Pharrell Williams, together with John Legend, Karol G, Jennifer Hudson, and Teddy Swims, to name only a few. Among those performing were also the Voices of Fire gospel choir and the Diocese of Rome’s choir, directed by Monsignor Marco Frisina.

Grace for the World and the World Meeting on Human Fraternity

The Grace for the World event was broadcast live around the globe on Disney+ (as well as on TV2000 in Italy) and also featured the fittingly powerful closing of the third edition of the World Meeting on Human Fraternity. Part of the 2025 Jubilee celebrations, this event was originally founded by St. Peter’s Basilica, the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, and the Be Human association.

The concert celebrated the 2025 Jubilee and marked the closing of the third annual World Meeting on Human Fraternity. This conference, organised by the Fratelli Tutti Foundation, consists of two days of spiritual and cultural initiatives to celebrate the power of fraternity, to offer a symbolic embrace to the world, and to renew a collective drive to protect Creation.

The World Meeting on Human Fraternity, which took place shortly before the concert (on 12 and 13 September), featured 15 themed tables and dialogue workshops on some of the major issues we face today. Internationally renowned figures were brought together under a central theme: ‘Being Human Today: the Path of Fraternity’.

Humanity and Fraternity

Humanity and fraternity: two concepts that are fundamental for the future of every human being and of the planet itself. Two restorative, pacifist words that are enemies to war, which is knocking more and more ferociously at the door of our lives in a way that is not only distressing but also, for many people, profoundly painful.

‘The aim is to present fraternity to the world as a cornerstone for a new political, economic, and social order for human existence,’ Cardinal Mauro Gambetti – archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter – explained at the introductory press conference.

He also added: ‘The principle of universal fraternity can provide the coordinates to write the history of this epochal change.’

Bocelli’s Message

Andrea Bocelli himself, on the eve of the event, had an important message about the extraordinary nature of what was about to take place between the Basilica and Bernini’s colonnade: ‘Let us shine a spotlight on humanity with music from the very heart of Christianity and the most important spiritual square, reaching the entire world with a single message of brotherhood and peace.’

That message continued to spread throughout the evening, reinforced not only by the lights and music but also by the other impactful messages shared. Cardinal Gambetti recalled the words of Pope Leo XIV in his address to the participants of the Meeting.

The Holy Father ‘reiterated the courageous “no” to war and the “yes” to peace and fraternity, recalling the words of Pope Francis in [the] Fratelli Tutti’ encyclical.

Gambetti, among his other appeals for peace and unity among peoples, delivered a ‘message of universal fraternity’. ‘We do not simply feel part of Humanity,’ he explained, ‘but we feel the whole of Humanity as part of us, especially the suffering, the violated, the hungry, the sick, the naked, the imprisoned.’

VATICAN CITY, VATICAN – SEPTEMBER 13: Pharrell Williams performs onstage during the “Grace For The World” event at St. Peter’s Square on September 13, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Daniele Venturelli/Getty Images for Grace For The World)

Pharrell Williams’ Music and Message

Messages of peace, love, and hope also featured in the songs performed at the concert: Pacem in terris, the Magnificat, Schubert’s Ave Maria, Vivo per Lei, and Happy, which Pharrell Williams sang at the event’s closing while drones magically wrote the word Joy in the sky.

The same drones that are increasingly becoming part of our lives. In a moment of peace and beauty, we were able to admire these innovative inventions that, too often, we hear mentioned in the context of war.

We want to see this as another message of peace, unity, brotherhood, hope, and the future: technology for humankind, not against it.

In his concluding remarks, Pharrell Williams urged the world to embrace the spirit of fraternity and compassion: ‘In this historic moment, I ask you to choose grace. Choose curiosity. Choose them until they become contagious. And, together, we will flood the world with this light and this love.’

Where can it be rewatched? The concert is available on demand on Disney+ for all its subscribers.

Article translated into English by Becca Webley