The official CD for Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to Brazil, which includes the official song for the visit, has gone gold in the country, with more than 75,000 copies sold so far.

Entitled, “Benedict, Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord,” the CD was released on March 25 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, where Pope Benedict will inaugurate the 5th General Conference of the Latin American Bishops’ Council in May.

The album was produced by the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida and Codimuc Records.  The Bishops’ Conference of Brazil selected the music.  “It’s a high-quality work of art that expresses the affection of the Brazilian people in welcoming the Pope,” said the album’s artistic producer, Father Josafa Moraes.

The official song for the visit was composed by Brother Luiz Turra and was chosen from fifteen different submissions.  “The music is easy to learn and we hope that the Pope, who is a pianist, likes it as much as John Paul II liked the songs that we composed for him during his second visit to Brazil,” said Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno of Aparecida.