Pilgrims attending open-air gatherings during the Papal Visit will receive CDs that feature a Britain’s Got Talent finalist singing the Lord’s Prayer. Liam McNally, a 14 year-old schoolboy, will also perform the traditional musical version of Our Father at the start of the prayer vigil in Hyde Park next month.
His rendition of the ancient hymn Panis Angelicus also features on the 12-track album that will be sent to all those given tickets for the main events during Benedict XVI’s visit.
“It has been a long held dream of Liam’s to sing for the Holy Father and he is honoured to be able to make this tribute,” the Church said.
The commemorative Pilgrim Journey CD includes spoken messages from the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, and Lord Patten of Barnes, who is overseeing the historic trip for the Government.
Other songs on the album are performed by a pair of trainee priests called The Seminarians and a composer called Alessandro Cherin.
Those attending the first open-air event during the Pope’s visit, at Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, are being encouraged to pay £20 towards the cost of coach travel.
The suggested contribution for the London prayer vigil has been reduced to £5, however, following complaints that travel is not included.
Those who receive tickets through their parish for the highlight of the Pope’s four-day visit, the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Cofton Park, Birmingham, are expected to pay £25.
In an interview published by the church on Tuesday, Fr Roger Taylor, Westminster Diocese’s Papal Visit Co-ordinator, said it was a “pretty amazing task” to collect the details of all those who wish to attend the outdoor events.
“There are 80,000 expected at Hyde Park, and 65,000 due at Cofton Park at Birmingham. So it’s a big job to be done to gather all the names and distribute all the places so it’s quite a task. It’s been absorbing, let’s put it that way.”
He added: “For a time it seemed a very long way away but suddenly it’s almost upon us and I think people are beginning to realise that this is really a once in a generation kind of event, perhaps a once in a lifetime kind of event.
“We’ve done the first allocation of tickets and already I have got about 2,000 people on the waiting list so there’s a huge wave of enthusiasm now.”