28 June 2007
Mass for the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums – Great Britain Chapter
28 June 2007, Chapel of the Governatorato
Dear brothers and sisters,
1. I still have vivid impressions in my mind of the recent visit I took to London to meet with the Great Britain Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums. I feel that the visit was very useful in rendering more fruitful the bonds which tie the distinguished members of your Chapter with this Governatorato in the Vatican City. I once again renew my heartfelt gratitude for the warm welcome afforded me in London, and for the evident optimism I perceived for beneficial prospects in future collaboration. It is a great pleasure for me to return the hospitality I received in London, by welcoming you here today in the Vatican, in this place – the Chapel of Saint Martha in the Governatorato – gathered at the altar of our Lord. The altar is, in fact, the symbol of Christ himself: it is he that calls upon us, it is he the true center of unity.
2. Today the Church celebrates the feast day of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr, one of the great Fathers of the Church, disciple of Saint Polycarp, from whose mouth he heard the teachings of Saint John the Evangelist, of whom Polycarp was himself in turn a disciple.
Two teachings, among others, are notable in the works of Saint Irenaeus; the first teaching: the faith transmitted from Christ and the Apostles is public and open to everyone; no teaching is secret, a “gnosis” reserved for a privileged few.
Furthermore, against the dualism and pessimism of the “gnosis” Irenaeus vindicated the sanctity of the material - of the body and the blood, not less than the sanctity of the spirit. In the beginning of his Gospel, John the Apostle announces: “The Word became Flesh”. That is, the eternal only begotten Son of God took on our nature: soul and body.
The second essential teaching Irenaeus transmitted to us is this: to know with certainty the teaching of Christ, one must turn to the Bishops, who are the successors to the Apostles, and in a special way to the Bishop of the Church of Rome, who has a major Apostolic pre-eminence, as the Church of Rome draws its origins from the two “columns” of the apostolic college: Peter and Paul.
The Bishop of Rome is the measure of the true “apostolic tradition”, i.e. of the genuine transmission of the message of Christ.
3. It seems to me that these two teachings are relevant in connection to your engagement as Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums and to your visit here in Rome.
The bond with the successor of Peter is in fact significant in your activity, and your presence here today is an eloquent sign of it. Your commitment in favor of the Vatican works of art - most of whom are inspired by faith – is an answer to the appeal of the “splendor of truth” that emanates from them: indeed, the great works of art are – to use an expression of John Paul II - “matter molded from the spirit”, which allows us to perceive and almost recognize like a ray the supreme beauty of God. In the famous words of Saint Augustine: God who is beauty always old and always new.
4. In the Gospel we heard the words of our Lord in his prayer to the Father by the Last Supper: “Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: ‘I pray not only for these (the Apostles), but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us; and the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me.’ ”
This prayer of the Lord is precisely about us, who believe in him through the Word of the Apostles, and it is accomplished in a special way when we partake in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, the sacrament par excellence of unity.