In the presence of Pope Leo XIV, Maestro Riccardo Muti conducts Cherubini’s “Mass for the Coronation of Charles X” at a Christmas concert in the Paul VI Hall, during which he receives the 2025 “Ratzinger Prize“. The concert was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and the Pontifical Foundation “Gravissimum Educationis”.
By Linda Bordoni
Taking to the podium on Friday evening in the Paul VI Hall, in the presence of Pope Leo XIV and Vatican officials, Maestro Riccardo 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).
The concert, held in honour 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.
Connection between music, faith and the human person
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.
He highlighted the significance of Muti’s lifelong dedication to music and the dialogue it represents with the Church, as well as his personal relationship with Benedict XVI, who bestowed upon the Maestro the Grand Cross of St Gregory the Great.
Recalling the late Pope Benedict, he 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.
Benedict, Muti and Mozart
Before the papal address, Maestro Muti offered brief words of gratitude, expressing his personal affection for the Holy Father, revealing that “From the first moment I loved you.”
He gave a short, impromptu speech in which he reflected on his artistic journey, including his years as music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Above all, he recalled his long relationship with Pope Benedict XVI, “the relationship of a devout Catholic with a great Pope and a great theologian.”
Muti 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!”
May every child partake in education and art
At the end of the performance, and before the words of Fr Lombardi and the Pope, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education and a key promoter of the event, expressed gratitude to the Maestro and emphasised the educational and spiritual dimension of the evening.
Thanking Muti for his work with the young musicians, he said, “Through their hands and voices, we have listened to a Mass that is not merely a score for a court ceremony, but a prayer, a spiritual ascent.”
The Cardinal Prefect highlighted the role of the young performers, saying, “Seeing them perform with competence, discipline, and commitment is an eloquent sign.”
“While we celebrate what music can offer young people through education and formation, we cannot ignore the dramatic reality of the world: 61 million children cannot attend school, and 161 million have no access to secondary education,” he affirmed, adding that “these numbers are open wounds.”
Beauty, he continued, “does not erase the darkness of the world, but illuminates it and gives us the courage to face it,” and it is for those children who are excluded, he said, that tonight’s concert launches an appeal and an invitation to act so that every child may study.
Ratzinger Prize promotes values of the spirit
Before inviting the Pope to bestow the Award, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, President of the Ratzinger Foundation, presented the Prize, noting that Muti’s work exemplifies the values at the heart of the Foundation’s mission.
“The depth of his interpretation of sacred music continues to influence the relationship between music, the Church, and faith,” he said.
Reflecting on the relationship between Maestro Muti and Joseph Ratzinger, Fr Lombardi added, “The mutual esteem and harmony between Maestro Muti and Pope Benedict XVI, also expressed in their personal encounters, make it entirely appropriate — and in a sense obligatory — to award the recognition that bears the name of the theologian and musician Pope.”
