Rock Band ‘Siervas’ Comprising of Young Nuns to Play for Pope

A group of young nun rockers, who already have millions of YouTube views and positive hits on Spotify and iTunes are going public in a large scale next week in front of thousands of Catholics and the Pope, who will witness their performance and cheer them up.

The Peru-based sisters will play at the World Youth Day celebrations, with a gathering of global Catholic youth in Panama. The celebrations will be presided by Pope Francis. The 11-member band, which performs in Spanish, has earlier played for the crowds during Pope Francis visits to Mexico and Peru. “We want to reach as many people as possible and if the pope is included in that, we’re more than satisfied”, says Ivonne, who pens much of the lyrics.

Known as “Siervas” meaning Servants, the band plays only Christian songs, which makes the band different from the mainstream rock music. The appearance of the band members is also very different, as the nuns wear their black and white habits and veils on stage.

“We are young sisters”, says 37-year-old guitarist Sister Ivonne of the band. The band also includes members from Japan, Ecuador, Chile, China and Costa Rica. “This is another form of bringing our evangelical message, showing our strength – that’s to say, it's also music that we like, it shows a lot about who we are”, says Sister Ivonne.

The band has so far produced 6 to 7 attractive music videos and posted them on YouTube and has already built an international following as it communicates its message as “love, joy and hope”. “Trust in God” music video by the band went viral on YouTube with nearly two million views. The music video features the nuns playing on a helipad with Lima skyscraper.

Sister Daniela, the drummer from Costa Rica says, “We’re not just working in music, but we take the word of God and his consolation to the prisons, to the disabled” as after participating in the celebrations, when they are back in Peru, the sisters will be involved in their regular work of distributing food to the homeless on the streets.

The group is also planning to visit women’s prison during their trip to Panama. They will also play at children’s cancer hospital and schools. Camila, the 22-year-old Peruvian guitarist says, “We go to the women’s prisons to listen to them. All they ask is to be listened to and to know God has forgiven them”.

The band, which has so far visited 11 countries, including the United States, was formed in Lima in 2014 when the young musician nuns from different nationalities came together. “It was God’s plan that we come together”, says 24-year-old violinist Sister Arisa from Japan.