(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 12.21.2023).- The Universal Exposition 2025 (EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan) will be held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13, 2025, to October 13, 2025. The chosen theme for this edition is «Designing Future Society for Our Lives,» with three distinct subthemes: «Saving Lives,» «Empowering Lives,» and «Connecting Lives.»
The Holy See, through collaboration with the Pavilion of Italy, will be present at the event with a recognizable space to organize cultural events and important art exhibitions.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for the Evangelization – Section for Fundamental Issues of Evangelization in the World, appointed by the Holy Father as the General Commissioner to prepare and oversee the official participation of the Holy See in the upcoming Universal Exposition (EXPO 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan), has appointed Monsignor Pietro Bongiovanni, Parish Priest of San Salvatore in Lauro, and Father Nuno Alexandre Henriques De Lima, Parish Priest of the Catholic Church Tamatsukuri, Cathedral of Santa Maria in Osaka, as Vice-Commissioners for the event. Archbishop Fisichella relies on their support to assist and represent the Holy See in the preparation and throughout the event.
The theme of the Holy See Pavilion will be: «Beauty Brings Hope.» Through an exploration of art and aesthetics, the Pavilion aims to convey the profound concept that beauty, understood in multiple facets, can be a source of inspiration and hope to build a more harmonious and participatory future society. Beauty has always played a fundamental role in Christian evangelization, manifested since the origins of Christianity in artistic expression. Throughout the centuries, art has become the privileged means through which the Church has been able to express and represent the depth of faith. The «Via Pulchritudinis» has been the most effective vehicle to tangibly communicate the heart of the faith through beauty.
Through exhibitions, artistic installations, and unique perspectives, the Holy See Pavilion will offer a reflection on how beauty can act as a catalyst for Hope, uniting people on the journey towards a shared future of renewal in spirituality.
Additionally, the theme intersects with that of the Jubilee 2025, titled «Pilgrims of Hope,» playing the role of a bridge that connects and unites both events.
«Today’s man lives with multiple hopes thanks to the progress of science and technology – emphasized Monsignor Rino Fisichella – But, as already expressed for the Jubilee theme, the EXPO theme also wants to communicate the importance of Hope, in the singular, which comes only from God. Man still needs to hope.»
