This morning, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience a group of “Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums” from Louisiana.

The following is the greeting addressed by the Pope to those present at the meeting:

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you.

Dear friends,

I am pleased to meet with you this morning and welcome you to the Vatican.  As Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, you are undoubtedly drawn to Rome by your love for art and beauty, and the desire to preserve humanity’s artistic and religious patrimony for the benefit of future generations.  But you also come today as pilgrims, moved to visit the sacred sites of Rome in order to ask for God’s grace and blessing, experience his mercy and find renewed strength in your daily journey of faith.  In a particular way, I hope that your time spent in prayer at the tombs of the Apostles will reinforce your bonds with the Successor of Peter and the Universal Church.

As you well know, Pope Saint Paul VI played an important role in the series of events that would eventually give rise to your Organization.  He once said that “this world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair.  It is beauty, like truth, which brings joy to the heart of man… unites generations and makes them share things in admiration” (Address to Artists at the Conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, 8 December 1965).  As Patrons, I trust that you have experienced firsthand that beauty possesses the power to awaken the noblest desires of the human heart, calling us beyond ourselves and opening our souls to the gratuity of God’s gifts.  It is in this context that I would like to thank you for your generous collaboration over the past decades in helping to maintain the art of the Vatican Museums.

In an age dominated by technology, in which efficiency and profit often take precedence, it is so important that we continue to cultivate a spirit of contemplation and allow time and space for beauty.  Such an attitude will greatly help humanity, especially young people, not only to discover the ability of art to uplift and reveal the depths of the human spirit and our openness to the divine, but also to realize that the gift of self is essential for authentic fulfilment.  Ultimately, contemplation presents a marvelous opportunity to encounter the God who is Beauty, whom Saint Augustine described as ever-ancient and ever-new, a Beauty that captivates and continuously draws all people to himself (cf. Confessions, X, 27; Jn 12:32).  Dear friends, as you continue your pilgrimage, I encourage you to open yourselves to this Beauty and consider ways of helping others to do the same.

In renewed gratitude and entrusting all of you, and your families, to the loving intercession of Our Lady of the Rosary, whose Feast we celebrate today, I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing, which I extend to everyone associated with The Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord.