Vatican lights up with drone show at historic 'Grace for the World' concert

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Illuminated drones reproduce Michelangelo's "Pietà" over St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on September 14, 2025. | Courtney Mares

St. Peter’s Square became the stage for an unprecedented spectacle on Saturday night, as tens of thousands gathered for Grace for the World, a massive concert closing the third World Meeting on Human Fraternity.

The event opened with breathtaking symbolism: more than 3,000 drones illuminated the night sky above the basilica, tracing the image of Pope Francis, framing Michelangelo’s dome and Bernini’s colonnade in light. The display, a first for the Vatican, drew reverent silence before the crowd erupted in applause.

Illuminated drones portray Pope Francis above St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on September 14, 2025. Eva Fernández

The moment was accompanied by a stirring duet of "Amazing Grace" performed by world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli and American singer Teddy Swims. Their voices rose over the hushed square, blending with the faint hum of the drones in an atmosphere of solemnity and awe.

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Yesterday, Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s quondam running mate, tweeted a seemingly random yet revealing non sequitur: “Does anyone else feel that today’s service honoring Charlie Kirk at The Kennedy Center was the much needed antidote to the weird Hollywood thing that happened at the Vatican yesterday?”

Those who have ears to hear…

Listen, as uplifting as the testimonies of love and appreciation given by Charlie Kirk’s friends and family were, the service at The Kennedy Center was not fitting at all as a ritual of mourning or honor — to be blunt, it was as crass a mishmash of political rally and swelling megachurch lowbrow pageant, held in a temple of culture, not worship, as its sadly ignorant producers could manage.

Americans, of course, do spectacle well, on purely technical grounds, if that’s the kind of thing you like; but it’s not religious. It doesn’t have verticality or relation to anything that came before (other than a nomination convention). It is an act of pure will.

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Entertainment at Vatican Vs. Solemn Charlie Kirk Service at Kennedy Ctr