SUMMARY:
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ARCHBISHOP FISICHELLA PRESENTS NEW EXHIBIT: THE PATH OF PETER
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MUTUAL ESTEEM BETWEEN POPE AND ITALIAN PRESIDENT
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CONCERT FOR POPE COMMEMORATING LATERAN ACCORDS
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ARCHBISHOP
FISICHELLA PRESENTS NEW EXHIBIT: THE PATH OF PETER
Vatican
City, 5 February 2013 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press
Office, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, announced details of the
exhibit "The Path of Peter" (Castel Sant'Angelo, 6
February–1 May 2013) that will be opened at 6:00pm tomorrow by
Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. Also
participating in the press conference were Don Alessio Geretti,
curator of the exhibit, and Daniela Porro, superintendent of the
Consortium of Roman Museums. The exhibit, one of the initiatives of
the Year of Faith, is a collaborative effort between nine countries
and will include pieces ranging from the 4th and 5th centuries all
the way to the beginning of the 20th century.
"First
of all, it's good to explain the 'why' of this exhibit," said
the archbishop. "Faith isn't just the commitment of believers.
It expresses humanity's need to look within in order to understand
the desire for God that is inscribed on the heart of each person.
This cultural moment we are living in is strongly characterized by
contradictory movements ... On the one hand it seems that there is a
general feeling of fatigue and indifference that even affects our
faith. It makes it seem limited to a small group of persons and as if
it no longer held any appeal to the new generations. On the other
hand, there is the excessive enthusiasm for scientific progress and
new lifestyles as if these were the solutions to today's serious
problems. Not infrequently in this case, we come to the claim that it
is good to limit faith's sphere to the private, denying its social or
cultural effect. At the same time, however, it is easy to see that
the desire to enjoy the beauty of nature and works of art is
constantly increasing. … Today, fortunately, we are still looking
for something that is more important and more profound, because the
spirit is moved by the desire to know and to admire … seeking to
contemplate a beauty that is not transient because it has created
culture and extends through the centuries, always arousing wonder and
marvel for the genius of the artist and for what they have known how
to create, motivated by their faith and their interpretive
abilities."
"It
is precisely to reinforce this desire and to give voice to the
nostalgia for God, often latent in many persons," the prelate
continued, "that we have decided to organize this exhibit as a
journey through the centuries to come to know one of the persons who
has always stimulated the minds of artists to try to understand his
mystery and give it voice. We wanted to narrate 'The Path of Peter'
in art … Peter is the image of humanity that seeks and that finds
and that, after having found, follows. Unfortunately he is also weak
and commits betrayal but he still knows how to ask forgiveness. Moved
by love, by a unique and sweeping experience, he leaves everything
behind in order to proclaim the mystery of Christ's Resurrection to
the world. It is a true journey of faith, without rest, that artists
have captured … in many works that witness to its beauty."
"This
exhibit is a path for growing in faith but it is also a challenge to
recognize the necessity of believing as a response to the question of
meaning that life poses. Looking upon the work of art, believers and
non-believers have different reactions, but beauty expresses a call
to one and all to listen to the message that can be perceived in the
silence of contemplation. … This is one of the reasons why we
thought that the exhibit shouldn't take place in a religious space
but in an open space where all might have access without prejudices,
moved only by the interest in art. True art, on the other hand, knows
how to challenge us and it's good not to force one's hand with too
many words so as not to run the risk of trivializing its message."
MUTUAL
ESTEEM BETWEEN POPE AND ITALIAN PRESIDENT
Vatican
City, 5 February 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Pope and the
President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano met in one of
the rooms adjoining the Paul VI Audience Hall before attending a
concert offered to the Pope by the Italian Embassy to the Holy See in
celebration of the 84th anniversary of the Lateran Accords.
The
discussion, which lasted around 20 minutes, was particularly intense,
given that it touched upon the approaching end of the president's
seven-year term, which has been characterized by a great mutual
esteem and by always cordial meetings on the part of both sides, as a
statement from the Holy See Press Office reports.
In
the conversation, the Pope expressed his attention on and
participation in the important events that are awaiting the Italian
people. They also spoke about major themes of the international
situation, particularly the concern for peace in the most troubled
areas of the world such as the Middle East and Africa..
CONCERT
FOR POPE COMMEMORATING LATERAN ACCORDS
Vatican
City, 5 February 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon, in the Paul VI
Hall, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra, lead by Conductor
Zubin Mehta, offered a concert to the Pope from the Italian Embassy
to the Holy See on the occasion of the 84th anniversary of the
Lateran Accords. The repertoire included "The Force of Destiny",
by Giuseppe Verdi, and the "Symphony No. 3 in E flat major",
also known as the "Eroica", by Ludwig van Beethoven.
At
the end of the performance Benedict XVI addressed the audience
briefly saying that the choice of "The Force of Destiny"
was "a fitting tribute to the great Italian composer on the two
hundredth anniversary of his birth" and that his works "know
how to capture and treat the situations of life in music, above all
the drama of the human soul, in such an immediate, incisive, and
essential way that is rare to find in the musical panorama. The
destiny he gives his characters is always tragic and the protagonists
of the Symphony that we have just heard do not escape it. However,
dealing with the theme of destiny, Verdi finds himself taking on the
theme of religion directly; he confronts God, faith, the Church. And
once again this composer’s spirit re-emerges: his restlessness, his
religious quest. "The Force of Destiny" … gives shape to
the drama of human existence, marked by a tragic destiny and by
nostalgia for God, His mercy, and His love that gives light, meaning,
and hope even in the midst of darkness. Faith gives us this
perspective that is not illusory but real … This is the strength of
the Christian, who is born of Christ's death and resurrection, from
the supreme act of a God who has entered into human history not only
in words but by becoming incarnate."
He
added, "a few words on Beethoven's Third Symphony … which, as
you know was dedicated to Napoleon, but the great German composer
changed his mind after Bonaparte proclaimed himself emperor, changing
the title to 'Composition Celebrating the Memory of a Great Man'.
Beethoven's music expresses the idea of a heroic bearer of freedom
and equality who has to choose between resignation or battle, between
death or life, between surrender or victory. … I am not going to
analyse the Symphony's four movements, but just mention the second,
the celebrated 'Funeral March' … a stunning meditation on death …
that invites us to reflect on what is beyond, on the infinite. In
those years, Beethoven, in the Heiligenstadt testament of 1802 wrote,
'O Divine One, thou lookest into my inmost soul, thou knowest it,
thou knowest that love of man and desire to do good live therein.'
The search for meaning that opens the door to a solid hope for the
future forms part of humanity's path."
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