March 22, 2010. Powerful instruments and a powerful voice for a powerful figure in the history of the Church-Saint Joseph.


Card. Tarcisio Bertone
Secretary of State
“He was a steward and savior. He was gentle and a  humble lover of discrete work, he was always an attentive and fair man, an he understood and followed God in his life."

In honor of the pope’s namesake, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household organized a concert featuring one of the most acclaimed string quartets in the contemporary scene.

The  Henschel String Quartet performed alongside mezzosoprano Susanne Kelling, all from the pope’s home country of Germany.

The program included a new version of Joseph Haydn’s “Last Seven words.”

Benedict XVI
“The Last Seven Words of Our Savior on the cross is in fact an example of the most sublime in music, of the connection between art and faith.”

Pope Benedict XVI addressed the audience at the Apostolic Palace. The pope went on to explain the hidden universal law of artistic expression comparing it to the same law he says allowed God to communicate with us and show us his love was incarnated in our flesh and created the greatest masterpiece of all creation- the mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ.  

Benedict XVI
“This law, which is the law of love, is also the law of art in its highest expressions.”
 
Towards the end of his address, Pope Benedict XVI apologized for his longer than usual reflection and thanked the artists in his native language.

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