Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “The urgent need for a renewed dialogue between aesthetics and ethics, between beauty, truth and goodness,” was addressed by the Holy Father Benedict XVI in his Message sent to the President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, and the participants in the public session of the Pontifical Academies, on the theme: “The universality of beauty: a comparison between aesthetics and ethics,” which took place on November 25.
“In fact, at various levels, there is a dramatically-evident split between the two dimensions: that of the search for beauty - understood however in reductive terms as exterior form, as an appearance to be pursued at all costs - and that of the truth and goodness of actions undertaken to achieve certain ends. Indeed, searching for a beauty that is foreign to or separate from the human search for truth and goodness would become (as unfortunately happens) mere asceticism and, especially for the very young, a path leading to ephemeral values and to banal and superficial appearances, even a flight into an artificial paradise that masks inner emptiness.”
The Holy Father mentioned the need for a “broadening of the horizons of reason,” as “a reason stripped of beauty would remain incomplete, just as a beauty without reason would be reduced to an empty and purely illusory mask.” Recalling the encounter with the Clergy of the Diocese of Bressanone on August 6, Benedict XVI affirmed that, “I explained that we have to look at a very broad reason, in which heart and reason meet, beauty and truth come together. And it such a commitment applies to everyone, it applies even more to believers, to the disciples of Christ, who are called by the Lord to 'give reasons' for all the beauty and truth of their faith.”
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus speaks to His disciples, using these words: “Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father” (Mt. 5:16). The Pope explained that in the Greek text, it says “beautiful and good works at the same time, so that the beauty of the works may manifest, in a perfect synthesis, the goodness and truth of the gesture, as well as the coherence and holiness of the one who does it. The beauty of the work referred to in the Gospel recalls another beauty, truth, and goodness, that only find their perfection and final source in God.”
From these considerations, follows the fact that “our witness must, then, draw nourishment from this beauty, our announcement of the Gospel should be perceived in its beauty and novelty, and to this end we must know how to communicate with the language of images and symbols; our daily mission should be an eloquent manifestation of the beauty of God's love, in order effectively to reach our contemporaries, who are oftentimes distracted and absorbed in a cultural climate that is not always prepared to perceive a beauty in complete harmony with truth and beauty, and yet ever yearns for and desires an authentic beauty, which is neither superficial nor passing.”
Benedict XVI suggested the re-reading of Servant of God John Paul II's Letter to Artists, ten years after its publication, “as a reflection on art, the creativity of the artist, and the dialogue between them and the Christian faith, lived in the community of believers.” After showing his appreciation for the members of the Academy for their activity, the Pope concluded his message expressing his hope for “a spirited and creative promotion in modern culture, especially in the world of art, a new Christian humanism, that can follow the road of authentic beauty with clarity and decision.” (SL) (Agenzia Fides 26/11/2008)
