A Concert for the Poor in memory of Cardinal Van Thuan
The Vatican held a concert for the poor on May 14 at the Paul VI Audience Hall in memory of Cardinal Van Thuan.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis greeted the organizers of the event with words of encouragement and thanks.
‘Music has the capacity to unite souls and to unite us to the Lord. It is horizontal but also vertical, soaring high, and it liberates us from anxiety,’ he said.
The front seats of the concert were reserved for Rome’s poor and marginalized, so that all may learn to see Jesus in them.
Tickets were free, but each seat was had an envelope in which a voluntary contribution may be left for the papal charity.
Based on Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy”, the opera was composed by Msgr. Marco Frisina, director of the choir of the diocese of Rome, and features symphonic music, Gregorian chant, and hard rock.
The Holy Father continued, saying ‘a little spirit will do much good to all in the ever-present materiality which brings us down and destroys our joy.
‘It will be a concert to seed joy, not a passing happiness, no: the seed will remain there in the souls of all and will do much good for all.’
The concert was sponsored by the Office of the Apostolic Almoner, the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, and the Saint Matthew Foundation in memory of Cardinal Van Thuan.
Please find below the translation of the full text of the Pope’s address:
POPE FRANCIS’ BRIEF GREETING TO THE ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS OF THE ‘CONCERT FOR THE POOR’
14/05/2015
Good morning to all and thank you for this visit. I thank you for all that you have done, are doing, and will do for this concert which unites us. Music has the capacity to unite souls and to unite us to the Lord… It is horizontal but also vertical, soaring high, and it liberates us from anxiety. Even sad music – we think of those slow laments – even these help us in difficult moments.
I thank you very much, because a little spirit will do much good to all in the ever-present materiality which brings us down and destroys our joy. As believers, we have the joy of a Father who loves us all and the joy to be able to be brothers to all. However, you will re-seed this joy with this concert. It will be a concert to seed joy, not a passing happiness, no: the seed will remain there in the souls of all and will do much good for all. I thank you again for all the good that you do; thank you from the heart.
Source: news.va (May 13, 2015)
