May 12, 2012: Pope Benedict XVI attended a concert on Friday evening in the Paul
VI Hall at the Vatican, offered by the President of the Italian Republic, Giorgio
Napolitano, in honour of the Holy Father. President Napolitano also gave Pope gifts
of a prestigious violin and an antique score to Zimmerman’s Missa solemnis from the
first half of the 19th century.
The concert featured sacred music by the Italian
composers Antonio Vivaldi and Giuseppe Verdi. Speaking at the end of the concert,
Pope Benedict thanked President Napolitano, the featured soloists, the performers
of the Rome Opera, orchestra conductor Maestro Riccardo Muti and all those who had
a part in organizing the event. The Pontiff also said that the concert and the
gifts are signs that show the link between the Successor of Peter, and this beloved
nation.
After listening to the evening’s music, Pope Benedict said that “Tonight
we might be able to say to God: ‘In you, O Lord, I place my joy and my hope. Make
it so that I might love you as your Holy Mother, so that my soul, at the end of the
journey, might be given the glory of Paradise’.”
The Concert followed a private
meeting between the Pope and the President. A statement from the Director of the Press
Office of the Holy See, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, reported that the meeting between
Pope Benedict and President Napolitano was a cordial one that lasted 20 minutes, during
which they expressed a common concern for peace, with particular reference to the
situation in the Middle East.
The statement further noted that the Holy Father
expressed his personal gratitude to the President for the concert given in his honour,
and renewed promises of his love for Italy and his closeness to all citizens of the
Italian Republic, assuring the President of his continuing prayers in this difficult
and challenging time for the country.