Suddenly, Catholicism is in fashion. In the US and France, surveys detect a growing sentiment among young people, especially boys. In the UK, for the first time since the Reformation, there are more young Catholics than Anglicans (2 to 1). The Pope's election seduced unsuspected audiences; Catholic influencers are multiplying, and people are showing their crucifix on TikTok. Reasons pointed out include Trumpist culture, the male search for a strong identity, Western chaos, the pandemic... And then came Rosalía.
This Monday, Rosalía -33 years old, perhaps the biggest musical phenomenon of her generation- presented the world with the cover of her new album, Lux (light). She did it with a giant poster dressed as a nun in Times Square and in front of a crowd in Callao Square, where she daringly arrived, with a rosary hanging from the rearview mirror and Mozart playing in the background. TikTok stopped the broadcast when, behind the wheel, she put a cigarette in her mouth. Catholic! And smoking! From appearing naked and sexual in Motomami to presenting herself as a reflective nun. What happened?
In a recent podcast, Rosalía speaks in Catalan with the communicator Mar Vallverdú, like two friends lounging in pajamas on a bed.
-I don't know if you feel the same way, but I have a desire inside me that I know this world cannot satisfy -says Rosalía-. I have spent my whole life with this feeling of emptiness. (...) Maybe it's the space of God, of divinity. (...) A space that only God can fill, and will fill if you are willing (...) and He or She, however you want to call it, gives it to you.
-I think you have reached nirvana, you are the new Buddha.
-No... I still believe in earthly pleasure. I still think that one day I will find a love that will solve my life, that one day I will be rich and all my problems will disappear. Many times I unintentionally let myself be guided by those motivations, but I have the hope of finding other paths. (...) Could it be that real luxury is depriving oneself of something?
-I feel like you are no longer a musician, you are a philosopher. (...)
-[The minimalist aesthetic of nuns] It has something beautiful, simple. A simpler life, but with great depth. Perhaps it is a beautiful path. I admire nuns a lot. They are like heavenly citizens, you know?
Is she the new Madonna, just a commercial strategy? It matters little. Rosalía dressed as a nun is above all two things: first, art, and second, a monumental symptom.