VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Vatican's traditional Christmas concert will be held in the Paul VI Hall at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, December 3. This year it will be dedicated to missions in the east.
According to a communique made public today, the concert aims "to raise public awareness concerning the question of the Church's missionary vocation and to gather funds to support missions in east Asia." One reason for this choice of theme, the communique says, "is because 2006 has been proclaimed as the 'Xavierian Year' (in honor of the patron of missions St. Francis Xavier, on the fifth centenary of his birth), of which the concert will officially mark the opening."
The concert will include various pieces from a new musical on the life of the saint: "Xavier - dreaming of China." It was to that country that the Jesuit saint was travelling on his last missionary journey; however, he fell ill on the island of Sancian, 100 kilometers off the Chinese coast, and died there on December 3, 1552.
Artists from all over the world will participate in the concert "to symbolize the encounter between a diversity of countries, cultures, religions, life experiences, ideals, and musical genres and styles," the communique concludes, and "in order to highlight once again the universality of the Church."
.../VATICAN CHRISTMAS CONCERT/... VIS 20051124 (230)
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