“Beloved brother in Christ”. These are the words with which His Holiness Kirill I, patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, speaks to Benedict XVI, in a message – read by the metropolitan bishop Hilarion – sent to the Pope on the occasion of the Russian music concert that is taking place in the Vatican this afternoon. Kirill defines such initiative “a very important event in the history of the cultural exchanges between our Churches” and explains: “Music is a unique language that enables us to communicate with our hearts. Music can convey the sentiments of the human soul and spiritual feelings that words cannot describe”. “To understand a people, you have to listen to its music”, this is the patriarch of Moscow’s belief: “And by this I mean not only the Orthodox liturgical music, some of the best works of which will be played today, but also works written by Russian composers for the concert halls”. “Over the years of the persecution of the Church and the predominance of state atheism, when the majority of the population had no access to church music – the Orthodox leader narrated –, these works, along with the masterpieces of Russian literature and the figurative arts, helped spread the evangelical announcement, proposing to the lay world ideals of great moral and spiritual standing”.

© SIR - may, 20th 2010