Pope Francis says "The Church counts on you today to help brothers and sisters to have a sensitive and compassionate heart, a renewed gaze of love on the world and on others." FULL TEXT

ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCISTO THE ENTERTAINERS OF THE "DIACONIE DE LA BEAUTÉ"

Sala Clementina
Thursday, February 17, 2022

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 Dear friends, dear artists!

I am pleased to welcome you and give you my cordial welcome to Rome. Thank you, Monsignor Le Gall, for taking the initiative of this meeting as part of the 10th anniversary of the “ Diaconie de la Beauté ”, And for his kind words. And I greet all of you, artists who seek in different ways to help and encourage the men and women of our time to take the via pulchritudinis .

The Holy Scriptures speak to us a lot about the beauty of the universe and all that it contains, and which refers by analogy to that of the Creator. They also remind us that each of us is naturally called to be a craftsman and custodian of this beauty. Artistic work completes, in a certain sense, the beauty of creation and, when inspired by faith, it more clearly reveals to men the divine love that is at its origin.

I thank you for the work accomplished in these ten years, for the love and passion with which you have made the talents you have received from God available to your brothers and sisters, expressing precious messages in the languages ​​of art for faith and 'evangelization.

Beauty is capable of creating communion, “because it unites God, man and creation in a single symphony; because it connects the past, the present and the future; because it attracts different peoples and distant peoples to the same place and involves in the same gaze "( Greetings to the Managers of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museum, 28 September 2018). A peculiarity of the artist is that he is not limited by time, because his art speaks to all eras. The artist is not limited even by space, because beauty can touch what is universal in everyone - especially the thirst for God - overcoming the frontiers of languages ​​and cultures. If it is authentic, the artist is capable of speaking about God better than anyone, of making his beauty and goodness perceive, of "reaching the human heart and making the truth and goodness of the Risen One shine in it" (Ap. Evangelii gaudium , 167 ).

As Saint John Paul II said, in his Letter to the artists , which I invite you to reread carefully, “in order to transmit the message entrusted to her by Christ, the Church needs art . It must, in fact, make the world of the spirit, of the invisible, of God perceptible and, indeed, as far as possible. It must therefore transfer into meaningful formulas what is in itself ineffable. Now, art has its own ability to grasp one or the other aspect of the message, translating it into colors, shapes, sounds that support the intuition of the beholder or listener ». 

I urge you, therefore, in cultivating your art, to speak to the men and women of our time, always worrying that there is some understanding on their part, because an incomprehensible and hermetic art fails its purpose. Try to touch what is best in them. The Church counts on you today to help brothers and sisters to have a sensitive and compassionate heart, a renewed gaze of love on the world and on others.

In the difficult current context that the world knows, in which bewilderment and sadness sometimes seem to have the upper hand, your mission is more necessary than ever, because beauty is always a source of joy, putting us in contact with divine goodness. . If there is beauty it is because God is good and he gives it to us. And this gives us joy, reassures us, is good for us. The contact with «beauty always pulls us up, beauty makes us go beyond». By arousing and sustaining the faith, it "is a way to go to the Lord" ( General Audience , January 5, 2022).

I thank you for the work you do, for the joy you give to the world with your works, and I encourage you, once again, to continue your service with love and competence, because the world needs beauty more than ever. May the Virgin Mary introduce you more and more into the mystery of God and the Holy Spirit inspire you: do not forget to invoke him. I pray for you and I bless you; you too, please, pray for me. Thank you!