Music, art, beauty help us look to God, Pope says after concert

July 20, 2026

At the conclusion of a concert held in his honor, Pope Leo XIV said that “music, art, and beauty are means that help us look upward, moving toward God.”

“We live in a world where beauty is lacking,” Pope Leo said in his extemporaneous remarks. “There are so many problems: wars, conflicts, hatred, violence, unemployment, and many other difficulties.”

“Having the opportunity to come together for an occasion like this is truly a great gift, because it reminds us that there is more than all of this,” he continued. “It reminds us that men and women, when we choose to, can join together to reveal a beauty that, from heart to heart, helps us to see and to lift our gaze toward heaven.”

The concert, organized by the Diocese of Albano, took place in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, where the Pontiff is spending most of July. During the concert, Marco Rogliano performed Niccolò Paganini‘s Violin Concerto No.3 (1826), and pianist Rossana Tomassi Golkar, accompanied by I Musici di Parma orchestra, performed Luis Bacolov‘s 2009 Fantasy and Variations for Piano and Orchestra on Norma, an 1831 opera by Vincenzo Bellini.

 

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Further information:

• Concert in honour of Pope Leo XIV (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 7/18/26)
• Pope Leo XIV: "Beauty helps us lift our gaze toward heaven" (Vatican News, 7/18/26)