Dear brothers and sisters,

I am very grateful for this Concert, on the occasion of the Nativity of the Lord. Saint Augustine, in his treatise on music, called it the scientia bene modulandi, connecting it to the art of leading the heart towards God. Music is the privileged way to understand the understand the supreme dignity of the human being and to confirm him in his most authentic vocation.

I thank the institutions that promoted this initiative – the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Pontifical Foundation Gravissimum Educationis – and all those who, in various ways, made it possible.

I address Maestro Riccardo Muti, to whom the Ratzinger Prize is awarded today, as a sign of appreciation for a life entirely consecrated to music, a locus of discipline and revelation. Pope Benedict XVI liked to recall that true beauty hurts, it opens the heart and it enlarges it, and sought in music the voice of God in the universe. In this quest for beauty, you, dear Maestro, had the opportunity to meet Cardinal Ratzinger several times, beginning when he attended concerts in Salzburg, Munich, and then Rome. In subsequent years, Pope Benedict attended your performances in the Paul VI Hall, where he awarded you the Grand Cross of Saint Gregory the Great. The award you receive today is a continuation of that relationship, of a dialogue open to mystery and oriented towards the common good and harmony.

This ethical responsibility of the musical art was illustrated well by my venerable predecessor Pope Francis, who loved music and listened to it with spiritual gusto. Music, he said, “grants to those who cultivate it a wise and serene outlook, which makes it easier to overcome divisions and rivalry and so to be in harmony, much like the instruments of an orchestra or the voices of a choir. It encourages us to be vigilant about ‘off-key notes’ and to correct ‘dissonance’, which are useful for the dynamics of compositions as long as they are integrated into a wise harmonic fabric”.[1] To harmonize means holding together differences that could clash, allowing them to generate a higher unity. Silence also contributes to this purpose: it is not absence, it is preparation, because in it the possibility of speech is formed, in the pause the truth emerges.

Maestro Muti, your way of interpreting conducting, the art of listening and responsibility, is also reflected in your natural inclination towards formation. This is demonstrated by your connection with Italian conservatories and the practice of “open rehearsals,” offered as a form of sharing, where every gesture is an act of trust, an invitation rather than a command.

It therefore seems particularly fitting that the Ratzinger Prize should be awarded to someone who has been able to preserve what Benedict XVI has always considered to be the heart of art: the ability to make a spark of God’s presence resound through beauty.

I would like to thank the “Luigi Cherubini” Youth Orchestra, whose involvement has given voice to young talent and creativity, and the “Guido Chigi Saracini” Choir of the Cathedral of Siena.

Tonight’s concert is an opportunity to raise awareness and commitment in the field of education: in fact, millions of children around the world are excluded from any form of schooling. For this reason, I welcome with hope the creation of the Observatory on Inequality and Universal Access to Education, announced on the occasion of the recent Jubilee of the World of Education. The Dicastery for Culture and Education is bringing together around this project all those who care about the education of young people, starting with the Galileo Foundation, which has shown its support by backing this evening’s event and the educational projects of the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation.

Sisters and brothers, as Holy Christmas approaches, I renew my invitation to persevere in prayer so that God may grant us the gift of peace. Upon all of you, and upon those who have watched the television broadcast, I cordially invoke the Lord's blessing.

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[1] Address to participants in the Fourth International Meeting of Choirs, 2 June 2024.

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Holy See Press Office Bulletin, 12 December 2025