The Pope described music as “a privileged means for understanding the very high dignity of the human person.”
Authentic beauty is never mere ornament. It wounds, unsettles, and enlarges the human heart. That was the message Pope Leo XIV delivered during the Christmas concert held on December 12, 2025, in the Paul VI Hall, an evening that culminated in the presentation of the Ratzinger Prize to the renowned Italian conductor Riccardo Muti.
“True beauty wounds, opens the heart, and expands it,” the Pope said, aligning himself closely with the spiritual and intellectual legacy of Benedict XVI.
The concert featured Luigi Cherubini’s Mass for the Coronation of Charles X (1825), performed by the youth orchestra bearing the composer’s name alongside the Guido Chigi Saracini Choir of Siena Cathedral. Written for a specific political moment, the work retains a spiritual power that transcends its origins, presenting music as a universal language capable of touching conscience as well as emotion.
Drawing on Saint Augustine, a shared spiritual master of both Leo XIV and Benedict XVI, the Pope described music as “a privileged means for understanding the very high dignity of the human person.”
This reflection was not theoretical. Leo XIV deliberately contrasted the nobility of art with one of the most painful injustices of our time: the denial of education to millions of children. According to recent data from UNESCO and UNICEF, nearly 250 million children worldwide lack access to basic literacy.
“This evening’s concert is an opportunity to raise awareness and to commit ourselves to education,” the Pope said.
Art, in this vision, is not an escape from reality but a moral responsibility. It has the capacity to foster dialogue, heal divisions, and awaken solidarity.
As a sign of hope, Leo XIV pointed to the creation of the Observatory on Inequalities and Universal Access to Education, announced during the Jubilee of the World of Education and promoted by the Dicastery for Culture and Education in collaboration with institutions and foundations working on behalf of young people.
The Ratzinger Prize 2025 was presented to Riccardo Muti “in recognition of a life entirely devoted to music, a place of discipline and revelation.” The Pope praised the conductor’s sustained commitment to education and mentorship, highlighting an understanding of music not simply as performance, but as a vocation shaped by faith, rigor, and transmission.
Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, speaking after the concert, warned that depriving children of education leaves “open wounds” in the future of humanity. Muti, for his part, paid tribute to Benedict XVI, describing their relationship as that of “a fervent Catholic with a great theologian.”
He recalled that their final conversations revolved around Mozart, whom he considers “one of the expressions of the existence of God.”
The evening also brought together several figures closely associated with Benedict XVI’s pontificate, underscoring the continuity of thought linking theology, culture, and art. As Christmas approaches, Leo XIV concluded with a simple but demanding invitation: to persevere in prayer, that God may grant the gift of peace. True beauty, he suggested, prepares that peace long before words can name it.
To musicians of Christmas concert
The next day, the Holy Father had another chance to speak of the wonder of music. In a brief address to musicians for the annual Vatican Christmas concert, he reflected:
Music is born from everyday life, accompanying our movements, our memories and our hardships: it is a shared diary that preserves everyone's feelings – nostalgia, desire, expectation, bewilderment, rebirth – recounting our journey with simplicity and, at the same time, in a profound way.
Christmas, after all, reminds us that God chooses a human setting to reveal himself. He does not use impressive scenery, but a simple home; he does not show himself from afar, but draws near; he does not remain in an inaccessible place in heaven, but reaches us in the very heart of our little stories. In this way, he reveals to us that everyday life – just as it is – can become the place where we encounter him.
At the end, Pope Leo expressed a special wish: "On the occasion of Christmas, may music be the place of the soul: a space where the heart finds its voice, bringing us closer to God and making our humanity ever more inspired by his love."
