Priest says Michael Jackson unlikely to sing in papal prayer project

Published: 2006-02-07

ROME (CNS) -- Father Giuseppe Moscati said he never considered having Michael Jackson record all of the 24 prayers of Pope John Paul II he hopes eventually to set to music. But, the priest told Catholic News Service, to have Jackson sing one of the songs or to be part of a choir singing a song might have helped sales, reaching greater numbers of people. However, when a Scottish newspaper published a story Feb. 6 saying there had been "secret discussions between the Roman Catholic Church and Michael Jackson to put the prayers of Pope John Paul II to music," the project began to fall apart. "It would be very difficult for the Vatican to accept the project," said Father Moscati, director of Edizioni Musicali Terzo Millennio, a sacred music publishing and promotion company. "Although he has been absolved by the courts" on charges of the sexual abuse of minors, it is clear Jackson's image "cannot be put alongside that of the pope," Father Moscati said. He said he would not mind the singer being involved on some level, but the furor created by news reports makes Vatican approval doubtful.

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