Pope Francis: Art that transmits truth and beauty gives joy

When truth and beauty are transmitted in art, it fills the heart with joy and hope, Pope Francis told a group of artists on Saturday.

“Dear artists, in a special way you are 'guardians of beauty in our world'”, he said on December 12, citing the “Message to the artists” of St. Pope Paul VI.

"Yours is a high and demanding call, which requires 'pure and dispassionate hands' capable of transmitting truth and beauty," the pope continued. "For these they infuse joy in human hearts and are, in fact, 'a precious fruit that lasts over time, unites generations and makes them share in a sense of wonder'".

Pope Francis spoke about the ability of art to instill joy and hope during a meeting with the musical artists participating in the 28th edition of the Christmas Concert in the Vatican.

International pop, rock, soul, gospel and opera voices will perform in the benefit concert on December 12, which will be recorded in an auditorium near the Vatican and broadcast in Italy on Christmas Eve. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this year the performance will be recorded without a live audience.

The 2020 concert is a fundraiser for the Scholas Occurrentes Foundation and the Don Bosco Missions.

Pope Francis thanked the musical artists for their "spirit of solidarity" in supporting the charity concert.

“This year, the slightly dim Christmas lights invite us to keep in mind and pray for all those suffering from the pandemic,” he said.

According to Francis, there are three "movements" of artistic creation: the first is to experience the world through the senses and to be struck by wonder and awe, and the second movement "touches the depths of our heart and soul".

In the third movement, he said, "the perception and contemplation of beauty generates a sense of hope that can illuminate our world".

“Creation amazes us with its magnificence and variety, and at the same time makes us realize, in the face of that greatness, our place in the world. Artists know this, ”the pope said.

He again referred to the "Message to artists", given on December 8, 1965, in which St. Pope Paul VI said that artists are "in love with beauty" and that the world "needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. "

“Today, as always, that beauty appears to us in the humility of the Christmas crib,” Francis said. "Today, as always, we celebrate that beauty with hearts full of hope."

“In the midst of the anxiety caused by the pandemic, your creativity can be a source of light,” encouraged the artists.

The crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic has “made the 'dark clouds over a closed world' even denser, and this may seem to obscure the light of the divine, of the eternal. Let us not give in to that illusion ", he urged," but let us seek the light of Christmas, which dispels the darkness of pain and sorrow ".