Vatican City, 25 November 2025
On Friday 12 December, at 18.00, in the Paul VI Hall in Vatican City, a concert will be held in honour of and in the presence of the Holy Father Leo XIV, conducted by Maestro Riccardo Muti, on the occasion of Christmas.
The evening will be a musical tribute to the Holy Father at the beginning of his Petrine Ministry, on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Nativity, the first he will experience as Pontiff.
It represents a valuable opportunity for encounter for the community that works alongside the Pope and serving his Mission: indeed, in addition to Maestro Muti and the orchestra members, the Roman Curia, the officials of the Dicasteries and those who work at the Holy See and the guests invited to this event will offer their Christmas greetings to Pope Leo XIV.
The concert programme includes the performance of the Mass for the Coronation of Charles X, composed by Luigi Cherubini in 1825.
Maestro Muti will conduct the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra, which he founded. The orchestra will be accompanied by the Guido Chigi Saracini Choir of Siena Cathedral.
On this occasion, Pope Leo XIV will present Maestro Riccardo Muti with the 2025 Ratzinger Prize.
The Ratzinger Prize is awarded every year to eminent figures in the field of culture and art. Maestro Riccardo Muti, universally recognized as being one of the greatest orchestra conductors, had a relationship of friendship and mutual esteem with Pope Benedict XVI, a great admirer of his art.
The Holy Father, who looks kindly upon the initiative, also wishes it to be an opportunity for awareness, commitment and solidarity with regard to the educational emergency, with particular attention to school inclusion. Worldwide, 60 million children and young people are not enrolled in any form of schooling, while 160 million minors do not have access to secondary education.
The concert is organised by the Pontifical Foundation “Gravissimum Educationis - Culture for Education”, under the patronage of the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See.
The main supporter of the concert is the Galileo Foundation.
