Nuns who went viral record a video and talk about their worldwide fame: 'We asked for a Hail Mary for each photo'

There was a party at the convent. A breakdancer, who introduced himself as the Wizard, was doing backflips. Another was spinning on his back. There were spotlights, a rapper, two cameramen, and a low-slung Chevy with a sound system in the trunk and the bass turned up to full blast.

In the middle of it all were Sister Marizele Rego and Sister Marisa Neves — the Brazilian nuns who went viral — and their group of backup dancers in habits, crosses and veils. They were filming the music video for their new song, “Vocation,” which has become a hit since the former sang the catchy chorus and beatboxed while the latter danced in sync on a Catholic television show about three weeks ago.

The video went viral around the world, racking up tens of millions of views. It spawned memes, imitations, and appearances on late-night television. On ABC's The View, Whoopi Goldberg called the nuns "a real-life Sister Act."

Now they were lip-syncing songs in the convent courtyard, trying to extend their 15 minutes of fame with a music video they released last Friday (27). God made them go viral to attract more young people to the church, they said, and they were trying to fulfill their mission.

“Why did something so simple and spontaneous become so big?” said Rego, who had already attracted 100,000 followers on Instagram before becoming a global sensation. “Because the Holy Spirit wants to touch people’s hearts.”

"But beyond the Holy Spirit," he added, "there is also the algorithm."

Rego, 46, and Neves, 41, are part of a larger movement in the Catholic Church to let loose, relax and talk to younger audiences where they are: online.

In Brazil, the world’s largest Catholic nation, the church has been losing followers for years. Today, less than 57 percent of the country of 200 million people identifies as Catholic, down from 83 percent 30 years ago, according to government data released this month.

To try to reverse the trend, Catholic influencers, pop stars and rock bands are stepping in. Some Brazilian priests — muscular, handsome and fit — have together attracted millions of followers on Instagram. Among them is Father Marcelo Rossi , who has become one of Brazil’s best-selling music artists. More recently, Catholic DJs have begun playing electronic music at events dubbed “Catholic raves,” including at Christ the Redeemer in Rio in January.

The initiative is part of a movement for renewal of the Catholic faith and other groups that have sought for decades to make the church more accessible and engaging — and are now moving digitally. Next month, the Vatican will support new events in Rome to bring together Catholic digital influencers and honor Catholic musicians. Some have called the awards the “Catholic Grammys.”

Yet for a few days last month, perhaps only the new pope was getting more attention than Rego and Neves.

The two nuns are from the Sisters of Copious Redemption, a 35-year-old congregation in southern Brazil of about 80 nuns and 25 religious brothers that focuses on rehabilitating young drug addicts, often using music and art to do so.

Copiosa Redenção has long cultivated a relatively relaxed and artistic atmosphere. The founder, a Redemptorist priest, was a painter. Another nun, Sister Inez Carvalho, had her own brief moment of fame as a rapper, releasing an album in the 1990s.

This month, a Copious Redemption convent in southern Brazil was filled with laughter, much of it from Rego and Neves. “Do you have life insurance?” Rego asked as he got behind the wheel of a car. As the car sped over a hill — the nuns were late for Mass — Neves screamed with joy as if he were on a roller coaster.

Both nuns are daughters of corn and soybean farmers fromParaná , and both grew up in homes filled with music.

Neves said she and many of her 10 siblings would stop working in the fields and dance whenever someone put on music. “Anything we could dance to,” she said. After entering the convent at 23, she continued to dance, taking hip-hop and breakdancing lessons. She later got a job on Catholic television, sometimes as a reporter and other times dancing on air with the priests.

Rego says she comes from a family of musicians. Her grandfather made guitars and her aunts sang on the radio. She became a nun at age 25 after believing a miracle saved her mother from cancer . Since then, she has sung regularly at religious retreats and even recorded a gospel album with other nuns.

The two nuns met in 2007, and the connection was soon clear. “If you make any rhythm, she starts dancing,” Rego said of Neves.

Rego said she taught herself to beatbox, creating beats for other nuns as they sang. “I just started making rhythms with my mouth,” she said. “I didn’t even know it was called beatboxing.”

Later, they both realized that beatboxing and hip-hop dancing were tools to connect with the young women at Copiosa Redenção’s rehabilitation centers. Many of them came from the streets and had little in common with the nuns. “It was a tool to connect and break down barriers,” Rego said.

On May 20, Rego and Neves appeared on a Catholic talk show to promote a retreat to attract new nuns. On the show, Rego began singing “Vocation,” a song her congregation had written years ago about God’s call to serve. But she had added a new refrain: “Voc-a-tion, oh, ohh.”

As Rego sang, Neves said she couldn’t help but dance. They got up from their seats, and Rego began beatboxing. Behind the camera, the program’s director encouraged the deacon who was interviewing them to join in, Neves said, as he could hear the director through an earpiece. He quickly got into the rhythm, following Neves’s movements in sync.

That moment, cut into a 30-second snippet, was internet gold. On TikTok alone, it has been viewed more than 34 million times, according to Tubular, a social media data company. Interview requests quickly poured in from around the world.

Back at the convent, the nuns saw an opportunity. Sister Daniely Duarte Santos, who runs the congregation’s communications office, called a colleague back from vacation, and they began posting repeatedly on social media to capitalize on the attention. Within days, more than 50 women had contacted them about becoming nuns; they normally recruit only a few each year.

The nuns contacted a local DJ to create an actual “Vocation” track, and in between media interviews, Rego recorded the vocals. The resulting track, with bass and synthesizers, is “techno-pop,” Rego said. It quickly climbed the Brazilian Catholic music charts on Spotify .

Rego and Neves have been on the television circuit, beatboxing and repeating dance moves at each stop. They recorded the music video, directed by Santos, with a headset over their veils. And on the street, fans have been stopping them for selfies. “We ask for a Hail Mary for each photo,” Rego said.