As wars intensify in Ukraine and the Middle East, Pope Leo XIV joined children from Israel, Palestine and other countries at Castel Gandolfo for an interfaith concert highlighting music’s power to bridge divisions. Source: RNS.
Pope Leo XIV attended a prayer meeting and concert for peace yesterday, where he listened to an interfaith choir of 164 children at the lush gardens of the Vatican’s echo-village in the town of Castel Gandolfo.
Some of the children were from Israel or Palestine, while others were born in Italy or Uganda. They were accompanied by the famous Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, who has sung at several Vatican events.
The event took place at the Borgo Laudato Si, formally the papal gardens of the Pope’s summer residence, which Pope Francis had transformed into a living example of the Church’s teachings on care for creation and environmental sustainability.
The “Canticle for Peace” took place on the 800th anniversary of the death of St Francis of Assisi, the 13th century Italian friar and mystic who advocated voluntary poverty and care for creation.
The choir sang songs centred on the theme of peace, such as the Moon in Kiev, written by Italian poet Gianni Rodari, and Amazing Grace.
Leo reflected after the concert on the unifying power of music, describing the choir as “an ideal symbol of harmony and cooperation”. The Pope told the children of the choir, many of whom are from war-afflicted areas, that music allows people to experience beauty.
“It opens before us a new horizon, and it awakens within us the desire to go out to meet that horizon,” he said. “We encounter God our Creator. Just as we can follow a stream back to its source, the beauty of music invites us to encounter the one who is beauty itself.”
Pope Leo told the children that “the Holy Father loves you and prays for you, for your families and for your countries.” He added that he prays that “peace may reign in your homes and in all those places throughout the world that continue to suffer from violence.”
The Pope’s words came amid a renewed escalation in the conflicts in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Russia has intensified attacks on Ukrainian cities, while Kyiv has expanded strikes inside Russia. In the Middle East, Iranian attacks and U.S.-Saudi retaliation have heightened fears of an expanding regional war.
The event was sponsored by the Laudato Si High Formation Centre and the Andrea Bocelli Foundation.
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At Vatican peace concert, Pope Leo XIV tells children music can overcome division (By Claire Giangrave, RNS)
