The International Federation of Pueri Cantores exists so that all young people may join together to sing the praises of God and, in so doing, bring peace and goodwill to all mankind, as was promised at the first Christmas.

Worship comes first

Boy singers have always been highly valued by the Christian Church in its liturgy. According to tradition, it was in the sixth century that Pope Gregory founded the Schola Puerorum at St. John Lateran and St. Peter's Basilica. In the eleventh century Guido of Arezzo composed the Micrologus as a didactic aid in teaching chant to boy singers. During the Middle Ages all cathedral and churches of any consequence possessed trained boy choristers. In 1903 Pope Pius X made a significant effort to return boys to their traditional place as singers, as part of his sweeping liturgical and musical reforms in the Catholic Church.

Boy choristers: the revival

Many countries took up this challenge and proceeded to re-found boys' choirs as part of their reform of church music. In France in 1907, Paul Berthier founded a group called Les Petits Chanteurs a la Croix de Bois, who, under their subsequent director L'Abbe Maillet, toured the towns and villages as a sort of missionary group for this type of liturgical singing involving boys. Their symbol was a wooden cross on a white alb, their liturgical dress. Other groups in Europe soon followed their example.

1946-1949: the process of Federation

It was Abbe Ferdinand Maillet who brought these groups into a federation of choirs and organised their first congress in Paris, which in 1947 saw a gathering of 3,000 boys. In 1949, choirs from 15 countries came for another congress in Rome, with a Papal Mass in St. Peter's, and the success of this venture led to further congresses and to the approval of the statutes of the Federation by Pope Pius XII in 1951.

Now, in 1997, is Mr. W. Buys the International President of the Pueri Cantores.

International congresses

Today choirs come from all over the world to attend Congresses: from North and South America, from Asia, Central Africa and all European countries. International Congresses are held every other year in the major cities of the world, including Rome, Madrid, Würzburg, London, Vienna, Maracaïbo, Brussels, Paris, Maastricht, and so on.

These international meetings are a wonderful opportunity for young people to meet and establish friendships but, more than this, they allow choirs to learn from one another. They learn the joy of singing together on a scale not possible in a parish church or school chapel and they learn that the Catholic Church sings with one voice to the Father in prayer for peace, united in soul and united in music, even though divided by language.

Links that bind mankind

Why has the Federation grown like this? Because our young people love to take part actively in the praise of God, offered constantly in the liturgy; because their singing is the beauty with which the rest of us love to hear our prayer crowned ("he who sings, prays twice"); because young people love to travel and to meet others with whom they can share. Young people like to explore, they like new places and new faces, they like to make new friends, exchange addresses and so forth.

And the choir directors? They know that singing is the quickest way to the memory, the surest way to bind the words of prayer to the souls of our children. And because singing is such an enjoyable experience for them, the Word of God finds a loving response in our children's souls.

Besides these international meetings there are national congresses every year, as well as smaller regional meetings, with individual choirs exchanging visits that grow naturally from the contacts made at the larger meetings.

Artistic Training

In some countries Summer Schools are held every year, so that the young singers can enjoy the concentrated experience of learning and living together, which is such a valuable training in residential choir schools.

In spite of the many changes to liturgical outlook in the years since Vatican II and the blossoming of folk groups and more varied musical styles in the liturgy, the Federation is still strong and active because the traditional plainchant and polyphonic repertoire of the liturgy has never been surpassed for its beauty and its power of musical formulation.

Personal formation

Many people have once again become interested in establishing or preserving choirs of young singers, not only because of the opportunities for making beautiful music but also for the educational possibilities. Young choristers learn the disciplines of attention to detail, dependability, co-operation with peers and quickness of response to direction and they gain self-confidence, balanced by self-criticism. But above all they learn the joy of creating beauty in the service of God.