Pope Francis on Saturday met with the arts movement, Diakonia of Beauty who are holding a Symposium here in Rome. In words to the participants, the Pope told them that the Church relied on them to make the deep beauty of God's love visible through their many talents.

The Diakonia of Beauty was founded in 2012 with the mission of giving back artists to the Church and bringing the Church to artists in the form of education, prayer and spiritual as well as economic support. It is made up of musicians, poets, singers, painters, architects sculptors, actors and dancers.

This week the movement was holding a Symposium in Rome marking the feast of Blessed Fra Angelico and on Saturday they were greeted by Pope Francis in the Vatican who thanked them for the variety of their talents, which, he said, the Lord called them to develop in the service of ones neighbour and of all humanity.

In his prepared remarks to those gathered, the Pontiff commented that “the gifts they had received were a responsibility and a mission for each one of them.”

He went on to say, “you are asked to work without letting yourself be dominated by the search for vain glory or easy popularity, and even less by personal profit alone.”

Talent and Service

The Pope underlined to those present that they were called, through their talents and drawing on the sources of Christian spirituality, to propose "an alternative way of understanding the quality of life,” one he added, that was not obsessed with consumption, but one of service especially to creation.

Art and Creation

I invite you, Pope Francis said, “to develop your talents to contribute to an ecological conversion that recognizes the eminent dignity of each person, their particular value, their creativity and their ability to promote the common good.”

He then encouraged the Diakonia of Beauty “to promote a culture of encounter, to build bridges between people, among peoples, in a world where so many walls are still raised for fear of others.”

Making God’s love visible

In his concluding words, the Pope told them that “the Church relies on you to make the deep beauty of God's love visible and to allow each one to discover the beauty of being loved by God and bear witness to it in the attention shown to others, especially those who are excluded, wounded, and rejected in our societies.