JOHN PAUL II: "THE CHURCH NEEDS ART"

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 1999 (VIS) - Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, this morning presented the "Letter of His Holiness Pope John Paul II to Artists" at the Holy See Press Office.

The cardinal said that in this letter, the Pope includes "personal reflections from his own life, and from his own artistic experiences as a poet, writer, dramatist and artist, as well as Pontiff."

"There are three perspectives in which (he) expresses his personal dialogue with artists: on a theological level, a historical level and on an ... ethical-existential level."

With regards to the theological perspective, the cardinal affirmed that "the Most Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - fills the soul of the artist and their works."

Referring to the historical perspective, said the cardinal, the Pope recalls that in the classical world, "that which is 'beautiful' is joined with that which is 'true'." The characteristic of the Middle Ages is "the art of icons," and in Humanism and the Renaissance there is "interest in everything human, in the world and the reality of history - 'in itself, such a concern is not at all a danger for Christian faith, centered on the mystery of the Incarnation'. Finally, the modern era, with its lights and shadows, is marked by the absence of God and often by opposition to God."

Thirdly, continued the cardinal, there is the ethical-existential perspective. "The Pope invites (us), in his own words, to 'creatively penetrate the mystery of God incarnate, and at the same time, the mystery of man.' This is a true mission. 'All men and women are entrusted with the task of crafting their own life: in a certain sense, they are to make it a work of art, a masterpiece'."

Cardinal Poupard said that at the end of the letter, John Paul II states that 'the Church needs art', and that it 'must make perceptible ... the world of the spirit'. The Pontiff moreover asks the question that he himself defines as a "provocation": "Does art need the Church?" He answers that we cannot ignore the way in which artists are inspired by religion.

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POPE INAUGURATES "PAUL VI, A LIGHT FOR ART" EXHIBITION

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 1999 (VIS) - John Paul II inaugurated at midday today the "Paul VI, A Light for Art" exhibition, organized by the Vatican Museums in the Charlemagne Wing adjacent to St. Peter's Square.

The initiative, said the Pontiff, "recalls my venerated predecessor, Servant of God Pope Paul VI, a little over 100 years after his birth, and on the 25th anniversary of the founding, at his request, of the museums' collection of modern religious art."

"This exhibition wishes to illustrate the great love which the unforgettable pontiff had for art, and the important place which that same art occupied in his petrine ministry."

The Pope thanked God for "the opportunity to add my voice to the witness of respect, esteem and trust of my venerated predecessor for artists from all over the world. I wished to dedicate a specific letter to them, which will be made public today."

"If it is true that artistic genius can create eminent works, even without taking faith into consideration, it is however a fact that, if one adds the intimate experience of communion with God to natural talent, the message which springs forth is even richer and deeper."

The Holy Father expressed the hope that the exhibition "might have a double objective: that of helping to better understand the value of art in the context of the new evangelization and to highlight the significant role of Pope Paul VI in the advancement of art, as an invaluable contribution to the spread of the Gospel."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Luis Quinteiro Fiuza as auxiliary bishop of Santiago de Compostela (area 8,546, population 1,288,822, Catholics 1,185,700, priests 912, religious 749), Spain. The bishop-elect was born in Villa de Cruces, Spain, in 1947, was ordained a priest in 1971, and since 1997 has been rector of the Major Seminary of Santiago de Compostela.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Francisco Fadul, prime minister of Guinea Bissau, and his entourage.
- Bishop Joseph Anthony Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States of America, together with Bishop Wilton Daniel Gregory of Belleville, vice-president, and Msgr. Dennis M. Schnurr, secretary general.
- Cardinal Jose T. Sanchez.
- Archbishop Piero Biggio, apostolic nuncio in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Sweden and Norway.
- A group of nine prelates from the Italian Episcopal Conference (second group, Sicily region) on their "ad limina" visit:
- Archbishop Giuseppe Costanzo of Siracusa.
- Archbishop Luigi Bommarito of Catania.
- Archbishop Giovanni Marra of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela, accompanied by his auxiliary, Bishop Francesco Sgalambro.
- Bishop Angelo Rizzo of Ragusa.
- Bishop Giuseppe Maladrino of Noto.
- Bishop Ignazio Zambito of Patti.
- Bishop Vincenzo Manzella of Caltagirone.
- Bishop Salvatore Gristina of Acrireale.

He is scheduled to meet later this evening with Archbishop Tarciscio Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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POPE JOHN PAUL II'S LETTER TO ARTISTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 23, 1999 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's Letter to Artists, dated Easter Sunday. April 4, 1999 was released today in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Polish.

The Pope addresses the 16-chapter Letter "To all who are passionately dedicated to the search for new 'epiphanies' of beauty so that through their creative work as artists, they may offer these as gifts to the world."

In the first chapter, "The artist, image of God the Creator," he states that his intention is to continue the Church's 2,000-year old "fruitful dialogue" with artists, a dialogue "rooted in the very essence of both religious experience and artistic creativity. ... The human craftsman mirrors the image of God as Creator. ... The one who creates bestows being itself. ... The craftsman, by contrast, uses something that already exists, to which he gives form and meaning."

The work of artists, the Holy Father continues in "The special vocation of the artist," "becomes a unique disclosure of their own being, of what they are and of how they are what they are. ... the history of art, therefore, is ... also a history of men and women."

Chapter Three addresses "The artistic vocation in the service of beauty," and says: "In a certain sense, beauty is the visible form of the good, just as good is the metaphysical condition of beauty." The Pope points out that "the artist has a special relationship to beauty," and "the obligation not to waste this talent but to develop it, in order to put it at the service of their neighbor, and of humanity as a whole."

He develops this theme of the duty to use talent in the chapter dedicated to "The artist and the common good," writing: "There is therefore an ethic, even a 'spirituality' of artistic service, which contributes in its way to the life and renewal of a people."

In the following chapters, "Art and the mystery of the Word made flesh," and "A fruitful alliance between the Gospel and art," Pope John Paul looks at how, over time, all of Sacred Scripture, and the Incarnation in particular, have "fired the imagination of painters, poets, musicians, playwrights and film-makers." Of the Incarnation, he says: "In becoming man, the Son of God has introduced into human history all the evangelical wealth of the true and the good, and with this He has also unveiled a new dimension of beauty."

Three chapters are then dedicated to the origins of art of Christian inspiration, the Middle Ages and Humanism and the Renaissance. Highlighting what he terms the need of believers "to express the mysteries of faith," the Pope touches upon the various forms this took, including architecture, poetry, sacred music, icons, painting and sculpture. And he says: "Even in the changed climate of more recent centuries, when a part of society seems to have become indifferent to faith, religious art has continued on its way."

In Chapter 10, "Towards a renewed dialogue," John Paul II writes of his hopes for a renewed dialogue between the Church and artists, especially in view of the dawn of "another kind of humanism, marked by the absence of God and often by opposition to God."

In Chapter 11, "In the Spirit of the Second Vatican Council," the Pope stresses the Council Fathers appeal to artists: "This world in which we live needs beauty in order not to sink into despair. Beauty, like truth, brings joy to the human heart."

"The Church needs art," writes the Pope in the next chapter. And in the following one he asks: "Does art need the Church?" He answers the question affirmatively, saying: "How then can we fail to see what a great source of inspiration is offered by that kind of homeland of the soul that is religion?"

The final three chapters are entitled "An appeal to artists," "The Creator Spirit and artistic inspiration" and "The 'Beauty' that saves."

While assuring artists of his esteem, the Holy Father writes: "Mine is an invitation to rediscover the depth of the spiritual and religious dimension which has been typical of art in his noblest form in every age."

Pope John Paul II concludes: "May the beauty which you pass on to generations still to come be such that it will stir them to wonder! Faced with the sacredness of life and of the human person, and before the marvels of the universe, wonder is the only appropriate attitude."

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