Text 1903, 56 rader
Skriven 2006-11-24 13:58:38 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service (Press Release)
===================================================
Hello All!
                This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.
                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

VATICAN MUSEUMS, WHERE FAITH AND ART INTERTWINE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 2006 (VIS) - Yesterday evening, in the Hall of Blessings
in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Benedict XVI received directors and
employees of the Vatican Museums, which this year are celebrating their fifth
centenary.

In his talk to them, the Holy Father pointed out how so far this year over four
million people have visited the Museums, 200,000 more than in 2005. A large
part of the visitors "are not Catholics," he said, "and many are not even
believers."

"The approach to Christian truth through artistic or socio-cultural
expressions, has a greater chance of appealing to the intelligence and
sensitivity of people who do not belong to the Catholic Church, and who may
sometimes nourish feelings of prejudice or indifference towards her. Visitors
to the Vatican Museums, by dwelling in this sanctuary of art and faith, have
the opportunity to 'immerse' themselves in a concentrated atmosphere of
'theology by images'."

Pope Benedict then went on to mention "a truth written into the 'genetic code'
of the Vatican Museums: that the great Classical and Judeo-Christian
civilizations are not in opposition to one another, rather they come together
in God's unique plan. Proof of this is to be found in the fact that the
earliest origins of this institution may be traced back to a work we could well
define as 'profane' - the magnificent sculpture of Laocoon - but that, in
reality, in the setting of the Vatican, acquires its full and authentic light.
It is the light of human beings formed by God; of freedom in the drama of their
redemption, drawn between earth and heaven, between flesh and the spirit. It is
the light of a beauty that shines from within the work of art, and brings the
spirit to open itself to the sublime, to the place where the Creator encounters
the creatures made in His image and likeness."

"The Museum truly shows how Christianity and culture, faith and art, the divine
and the human, constantly intertwine. And in this regard, the Sistine Chapel
represents the insurmountable pinnacle."

The Pope concluded his talk by stressing the importance of the example Vatican
Museums employees show visitors, "offering them a simple but incisive witness
of faith. A temple of art and culture such as the Vatican Museums requires the
beauty of the works to be accompanied by the beauty of the people who work
there: a spiritual beauty that renders the atmosphere truly ecclesial,
impregnating it with the Christian spirit."
AC/VATICAN MUSEUMS/... VIS 061124 (430)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)