German film score composer and record producer Hans Zimmer performs during the “Hans Zimmer Live North American Tour 2024” at Scotiabank Arena on Sept. 19, 2024, in Toronto. / Credit: Mathew Tsang/Getty Images
Vatican City, Oct 10, 2024 / 09:15 am (CNA).
The Vatican announced Thursday that Oscar-winning film composer Hans Zimmer will conduct a special concert for the poor and homeless at a Vatican City venue.
Zimmer, known for his scores of films like “Gladiator,” “The Lion King,” “Interstellar,” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” will conduct some of his most memorable movie melodies at the event.
The legendary composer will take center stage at the Vatican’s “Concert with the Poor” on Dec. 7 in the Paul VI Hall.
Three thousand people in need, cared for by volunteer organizations around Rome, will be invited to enjoy the live performance. At the end of the concert, they will receive a takeaway dinner and other necessities.
The Vatican event seeks to elevate those often left on the margins of society, offering them not just a world-class performance but an experience that acknowledges their dignity and worth.
Zimmer has won Academy Awards for composing original scores for “Dune” and “The Lion King” as well as 22 Grammy nominations for films including “Inception,” “The Prince of Egypt,” and “The Dark Knight.”
Joining him will be Grammy-nominated cellist Tina Guo and Italian priest and composer Monsignor Marco Frisina, who has composed both sacred music and scores for numerous religious films in Italy.
The Nova Opera Orchestra, featuring 70 musicians from across Europe, and the 250-member Choir of the Diocese of Rome will also participate, marking the choir’s 40th anniversary.
Pope Francis will meet privately with Zimmer and the other artists ahead of the concert.
First held in 2015, the “Concert with the Poor” has become a Vatican tradition. Past editions of the event have featured luminaries such as the late composer Ennio Morricone, a legend in Italian cinema history, and Nicola Piovani, who won the Academy Award for best original score for Roberto Benigni’s film “Life Is Beautiful.”
The concert is under the patronage of the Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Charity, the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music.
The concert capacity is 8,000 attendees, including 3,000 special guests from Rome’s poorest communities. These guests are invited through various charitable organizations such as Caritas, the Order of Malta, and the Community of Sant’Egidio.
Tickets for the general public will be available starting Nov. 18 through the event’s official website.
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Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Sep 18, 2024 / 08:54 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Wednesday said the Catholic Church is “more alive” outside of Europe as he reflected back on his recent apostolic journey to Southeast Asia.
“A first reflection that comes spontaneously after this trip is that in thinking about the Church we are still too Eurocentric, or, as they say, ‘Western,’” the pope said in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 18.
“But in reality, the Church is much bigger, much bigger than Rome and Europe … and may I say much more alive in these countries,” he added.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
In his first general audience since returning from the longest international trip of his pontificate, the pope expressed gratitude to God for his experiences in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2–13.
“I thank the Lord who allowed me to do as an elderly pope what I would have liked to do as a young Jesuit,” Francis said.
The pope, who turns 88 in December, expressed his enthusiasm for the “missionary, outgoing Church” he encountered on his visit to the four island nations in Asia and Oceania.
The pope recalled his visit to the grounds of the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, where he signed a joint declaration with Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar condemning religious-based violence and promoting religious harmony.
“There, I saw that fraternity is the future, it is the answer to anti-civilization, to the diabolical plots of hatred, war, and also sectarianism,” he said.
Pope Francis arrives at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Pope Francis commented that the missionaries and catechists were the “protagonists” of his visit to Papua New Guinea, where the pope was welcomed by the beating drums of some of the country’s Indigenous tribes who have accepted the Catholic faith.
“I rejoiced to be able to stay a while with the missionaries and catechists of today; and I was moved to listen to the young people’s songs and music: In them, I saw a new future, without tribal violence, without dependency, without economic or ideological colonialism; a future of fraternity and care for the wondrous natural environment,” Francis said.
The pope added that he has “a beautiful memory” from traveling to the remote coastal town of Vanimo, a jungle outpost where he said Argentine missionaries “go into the jungle in search of the most hidden tribes.”
Pope Francis said that he experienced the “air of springtime” in East Timor, a small Catholic country that gained its independence from Indonesia in 2002.
He praised the Catholic country for its many large families and many religious vocations.
“I will never forget the smiles of the children,” he said. “In East Timor, I saw the youthfulness of the Church: families, children, young people, many seminarians and aspirants to consecrated life.”
Frequently throughout his trip, Pope Francis commended the high birth rates found not only in East Timor but also in Indonesia, saying that such high fertility rates should be an example for other countries around the world.
On his return flight to Rome, the pope praised East Timor’s “culture of life,” adding that wealthier countries, including Singapore, could learn from the small country that “children are the future.”
Looking back on his final stop in Singapore, the pope remarked that the modern city-state was very different from other countries he visited during his apostolic journey.
“Even in wealthy Singapore there are the ‘little ones,’ who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses to a hope greater than what economic gains can guarantee,” he added.
Pope Francis reflected on his journey to the four tropical islands on a cloudy fall morning in Rome. The pope was quite animated as he spoke about his travels, frequently making extra comments off the cuff to the crowd.
He underlined to the crowd that an “apostolic journey” is much different than tourism because “it is a journey to bring the Word of God, to make the Lord known, and also to know the soul of the people.”
At the end of the audience, the pope offered a prayer for the victims of the recent severe flooding in Europe and encouraged the local Catholic communities who are working to provide relief to the flooding caused by Storm Boris.
“In these days, heavy torrential rains have hit Central and Eastern Europe causing victims, missing persons, and extensive damage in Austria, Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland, who have to cope with tragic inconveniences caused by the floods. I assure everyone of my closeness, praying for those who have lost their lives and their families,” he said.
Pope Francis commented that there were many newly married couples who came to the general audience to receive his blessing for their marriages, with the Holy Father giving a shoutout to two Vatican employees who will be married in Vatican City this weekend.
The pope asked the Virgin Mary’s intercession for the newlyweds to have the grace “to accept work and daily crosses as opportunities for growth and purification of your love.”
Francis also prayed for the sick, elderly, and disabled present at the general audience.
“May Our Lady of Sorrows, whom we recalled a few days ago in the liturgy, help you, dear sick and elderly people, to grasp in suffering and difficulties the call to make of your existence a mission for the salvation of your brothers and sisters,” he said.
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2019 / 05:12 am (CNA).- Pope Francis announced Sunday he will create 13 new cardinals, from every part of the world, in a consistory Oct. 5. Among them are 10 who are elegible to vote in a future conclave.
Coming from North America, Central America, Africa, Europe, and Asia, Pope Francis said Sept. 1 that “their origin expresses the missionary vocation of the Church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people on earth.”
Among those to be elevated to cardinal is Canadian Jesuit Fr. Michael Czerny, the head of the Migrants and Refugees section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Two other red hat recipients also work inside the Vatican. They are: Spanish Archbishop Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, prefect of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; and Portuguese Archbishop José Tolentino Mendonca, librarian of the Holy Roman Church.
From Africa are Archbishop Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Archbishop Cristobal Lopez Romero of Rabat in Morocco.
There is Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta in Indonesia and Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini of Huehuetenango, Guatemala. North America is represented only by Archbishop Juan de la Caridad Garcia Rodriguez of Havana, Cuba.
Archbishops Jean Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg and Matteo Zuppi of Bologna represent Europe.
Pope Francis will also elevate three bishops over the age of 80, and therefore ineligible to vote in a conclave, but who, he said, “have distinguished themselves for their service to the Church.”
They are: Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, emeritus of Nepte in Tunisia and a former president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue; Archbishop Sigitas Tamkevicius, emeritus of Kaunas in Lithuania, he was arrested and persecuted under the soviet regime; and Bishop Eugenio Dal Corso, emeritus of Benguela in Angola, where he was a missionary.
As it stands now, the College of Cardinals has 215 members, 118 of whom are electors.
Pope Francis announced his intention to add to the College of Cardinals from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, after leading the Angelus Sept. 1.
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