For the second year in a row, the Christmas concert that used to take place at the Vatican will be held at an alternative location, confirmed the event organizers."We hope that next year it will return to the Vatican," said Prime Time Productions in a statement. "We would like nothing more than to return."
This year's concert will take place in Verona, Italy, at the Philharmonic Theater of the Arena di Verona on Dec. 9.
The event will be broadcast on Christmas Eve on Italy's RAI 2 at 9 p.m.
The official list of performers has not been confirmed but so far the group includes Michael Bolton, Pino Daniele, Sergio Cammariere, Anggun, Giovanni Allevi and Miguel Bosé.
The Virginia State Choir is also scheduled to perform. Each year the concert raises money for a Catholic cause.
This year the funds will be given to various Don Bosco foundations around the world, in particular in Darfur, to help with the plight of refugees.
When it was first staged in 1993, the proceeds from the concert were used to fund the "50 Churches for Rome" project.
The concert, which was initiated by Pope John Paul II, was discontinued at the Vatican by Benedict XVI in 2006.
While no official reason was given, many say it was from the growing controversy that clouded the event in recent years.
In 2003, American singer Lauryn Hill stood up on stage and asked the Catholic Church to apologize publicly for the behavior of priests involved in the sexual abuse scandals in the United States.
Then in 2005, the Brazilian vocalist Daniela Mercury was hastily removed from the bill after she appeared in television and radio ads in Brazil encouraging young people to use condoms.
In 2006, the event organizers moved the concert to Monaco.
Benedict XVI, an aficionado of classical music, isn't opposed to concerts, but he has made no effort to hide the fact that he prefers Mozart, Bach and Beethoven to the pop music featured in the annual Christmas concerts.
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