The 20th ‘The Pope Video‘ from the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network shares the Holy Father’s prayer intention for August: That artists of our time, through their creativity, may help us discover the beauty of creation.
The video was released August 4, 2017. It features the Pope’s narrative and a mix of music, musical instruments, and images from around the world.
“The arts give expression to the beauty of the faith and proclaim the Gospel message of the grandeur of God’s creation,” Pope Francis said. “When we admire a work of art or a marvel of nature, we discover how everything speaks to us of Him and of His love.”
But in addition to emphasizing the value of the creative work of God, as the imagery juxtaposes the tranquility of the plains with the fervor of a ballerina in the midst of a city, Francis makes a clear call to commit ourselves to caring for and protecting this inheritance. In September of 2016, on the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, he invited all believers to renew our commitment to our personal vocation to be stewards of creation.
Pope Francis spoke of the vital role of art in a message to the Pontifical Academies on December 6, 2016:
“Small gestures, simple acts, little sparks of beauty and charity can heal and mend the human, not merely the urban and environmental fabric, often torn and divided, representing a concrete alternative to indifference and cynicism
“Thus there emerges the important and necessary task of artists, especially those who are believers and who let themselves be enlightened by the beauty of Christ’s Gospel: to create works of art that bear through the language of beauty a sign, a spark of hope and trust where people seem to give in to indifference and ugliness. Architects and painters, sculptors and musicians, filmmakers and writers, photographers and poets, artists of every discipline, are called to make beauty shine, especially where darkness and grayness dominate everyday life; they are custodians of beauty, heralds and witnesses of hope for humanity, as my predecessors have repeated many times. I invite them, therefore, to care for beauty, and beauty will heal the many wounds that mark the heart and soul of the men and women of our times.”
