Pope Leo XIV attended a concert conducted by Riccardo Muti in the Paul VI in the Vatican on Friday night, Dec. 5. Muti led the “Luigi Cherubini” Youth Orchestra and the “Guido Chigi Saracini” Choir of the Cathedral of Siena in a performance of Luigi Cherubini’s Mass for the Coronation of Charles X (1825), according to Vatican News. The concert, held in honor of the Pope as he approaches the first Christmas of his Petrine Ministry, also marked the awarding of the 2025 Ratzinger Prize to the world-renowned conductor. Muti was very close to Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.
In his address at the conclusion of the concert, Pope Leo reflected on the relationship between music, faith, and the human person. “Saint Augustine calls music scientia bene modulandi, the art of guiding the heart toward God,” he said. “Music is a path to understanding the dignity of the human being and confirming one’s vocation,” the Pope noted.
Recalling the late Pope Benedict, Pope Leo said that Muti’s encounters with Cardinal Ratzinger—from Salzburg and Munich to Rome—shaped a shared understanding of music as a space of reflection and ethical responsibility. “Thus, it appears especially fitting that the Ratzinger Prize be awarded to one who has known how to safeguard what Benedict XVI always considered the heart of art: the possibility of letting a spark of God’s presence resound through beauty,” he said. The Prize awarded today, the Pope added, continues that dialogue, “open to mystery and oriented toward the common good, toward harmony.”
He also underscored the presence of the young performers and Muti’s long-standing commitment to education and formation, noting that millions of children worldwide remain excluded from formal schooling. For this reason, he upheld the launch of the Observatory on Inequality and Access to Education, announced during the recent Jubilee of the Educational World, which aims to coordinate efforts to ensure universal access to education.
Muti, in his words to the event, recalled his long relationship with Pope Benedict XVI, “the relationship of a devout Catholic with a great Pope and a great theologian.” He said they spoke about music on many occasions, including once not long before Benedict’s death, when the ailing Pope Emeritus reflected on Mozart’s insight that “between notes there is the infinite, the Mystery.” And as Muti left the room, Benedict said to him, “I believe that Mozart is one of the tangible expressions of God’s existence (...) Let that poor Mozart rest in peace!”
