LONDON (AP) - British singing sensation Susan Boyle said Wednesday she feels humbled and honored by the opportunity to sing for Pope Benedict XVI during his tour of Britain.
The unlikely pop star who shot to global fame after she sang on the TV show “Britain’s Got Talent” will perform hymns and sing with an 800-strong choir at an open-air papal Mass in Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park on Sept. 16, the Roman Catholic Church said.
Boyle, 49, will also sing “I Dreamed A Dream” from “Les Miserables.” Her rendition of the song on the talent show has been viewed millions of times on the Internet.
She told Scotland’s The Daily Record newspaper on Wednesday that the invitation to sing for the pope is “my greatest dream come true.”
“I’ve always wanted to sing for His Holiness and I can’t really put into words my happiness that this wish has come true at last,” she told Scotland’s Daily Record newspaper. “I am humbled and honoured by this invitation and I hope I can do my best.”
Benedict’s four-day trip will be the first papal visit to Britain since Pope John Paul II in 1982.
His itinerary also includes an address in Parliament and the beatification of 19th-century Catholic convert Cardinal John Henry Newman.
Boyle will sing for the pope the hymn “How Great Thou Art,” as well as a farewell song when the pontiff leaves Glasgow for London.
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