Turn up the volume, this is the music of Don Roberto Fiscer, the most famous priest on TikTok

Loud techno music, then a Glory in remix version. Other than whispered prayers: Father Guilherme Peixotoon Sunday 6 August, made one and a half million young people dance at the World Youth Dayat the Tejo Park of Lisbon. The videos that portrayed him on the console have depopulated, bounced everywhere on the web.

«I was there and I was too happy to see that priest, he filled my heart. I heard we spoke the same language.” To say it is Don Roberto Fiscer47 years still to go, dj by profession before becoming a parish priest in Genoa and a “social” priest who on TikTok today has 560,000 followers, conquered with cheerful sketches, most often filmed directly on the altar.

And now Roberto Fiscer has even gone out to the bookstore with a book, Spirited life (Piemme), which is inspired by the famous song by Vasco Rossiso much so that the preface was written by Nando Bonini, Blasco’s guitarist, much loved by the don.

He is famous for his style: in church he dances to the notes of she-who-kisses-him-who-kisses-she-who-kisses-me and then, with amusing gags, he dispenses advice on how not to take the wafer when you make your first communion. Boys love it.

It’s all very funny, but the doubt arises: aren’t these attitudes taken as irreverent?
«As far as Father Guilherme Peixoto’s music is concerned, what can I say, we were at World Youth Day and it was right to use the language and methods of the boys. It is through this language that God’s message passes. If anything, it would be irreverent to converse with young people with an old, heavy liturgy that says nothing to them. A priest who moves them like this during one of their feasts I find that he instead has extreme delicacy and attention. He was emotional, my heart was exploding with joy. I’m happy when I see that the Church doesn’t remain silent, that she knows how to speak to the younger ones, that she knows how to stay on track ».

She DJed too, and then what happened?
«Yes, I did it by profession on ships. At one point there was a turning point for me: before I embarked on a ship again, I was contacted by a parish to organize a party. And there my console wasn’t far from the people as usual, but they were all around, asking and interacting, I felt like I was in the middle of a family. Then when I left, I clearly felt the nostalgia for that parish, for that sensation I had perceived in my heart. Then, back, I went to a Youth Day and there I met some charismatic priests and I felt an unequivocal push. So the next month I entered the seminary. This does not mean that I continue to love Vasco Rossi, as I have always loved, I have followed him since I was a child: Vasco knows how to speak and sing among the wounds we carry in our hearts, his music is like a balm, at least for me it was Like this. His music has guided me, it has accompanied me over the years, even in the most difficult ones of my adolescence. I’ve always liked Freddie Mercury, another character outside the system, but perhaps God isn’t against the tide too? We often link the figure of God to a figure who is never wrong, but God makes his history certainly not with the best, if anything he is the one who makes everyone better. In recent years, in a bathing establishment, I have also made the Cristoteca, with Christian music alternating with the hits of the moment. I didn’t invent it: in South America there are several and they are very fast. A real festive situation is created, a joyful moment».

And what is your feedback on being such an innovative priest?
«I have various feedbacks: adults who care about children, such as educators and catechists, call me and look for me, they know that this language of mine binds young people, so I always get positive feedback from them. Then of course there are also the adults who don’t even know that social networks exist, the “Christians with full stomachs” as I call them, those who are not looking for anything: well, they attack me every now and then. Meanwhile, dozens of young people write to me privately, to ask for advice, to confess, to tell their stories. This is worth too much more than a criticism that I can get».

But have you ever had problems with the Curia?
“Absolutely no. Perhaps some Christian with a refined palate, one of those who look at formality and not at content, he asked me some questions. The switchboard operators of the Curia tell me that they call them to inform them of what I am doing, but no, I have never received any official notification. I only try to strip religiosity of that seriousness that does not belong to it, religion is joy. Certainly there are rules that are used for civilized living, but others are just chains from which we must free ourselves. Jesus himself broke obsolete and absurd rules. These kids of today need someone who reflects their soul, otherwise they will feel uncomfortable in a Church with pompous liturgies, which does not understand them”.

Have these videos of yours opened up other paths for you, other contacts?
«Yes, they were a great opportunity, which allowed me to get to know many communities, many parishes: my confreres who are interested in doing similar things call me. There are many followers today, but they are not the ones that make the difference, I’m not very interested in numbers: I pay attention to them to the extent that I can really get to know someone. Many people came to present themselves at this last World Youth Day, people who knew me precisely through those videos. Followers make sense the moment they put on a face.”

And, speaking of contacts, have you ever had direct contact with the Pope?
«Yes, I met him and I also gave him my CD. Once, however, he called me live, during one of the broadcasts I do on the radio. I have a radio inside the Gaslini hospital in Genoa: it’s called Radio Fra Le Note and you can listen to it via DAB, digital audio broadcasting, or by downloading the app. We do live broadcasts with the children who are in the hospital, we tell stories and there are programs of all kinds, entertainment and religious reflection. Sometimes we also make programs recorded in prison. Young people are attracted by the language of service, by helping the last few: when they see you working hard, giving yourself a helping hand, they are there and follow you. My surname, Fiscer, sounds a bit like the English word Fisher, which means “fisherman”: here, for the Church, I try to be a fisherman of the faithful».