Popes and Music

The last 4 Popes and their photo as young priests

On this feast of St Cecilia, the patron saint of music, I am sharing with you the last 4 Popes’ favorite kind of music. Like everyone else they had their childhood, their teenage years, their youth and their adult life as priests and bishops and of course they enjoyed music too. Pope Leo XIV recently mentioned his favorite movies, which include The Sound of Music, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Life is Beautiful. But he also mentioned the Italian singer Laura Pausini, when he said he had followed her music for decades. In fact in the presence of the Holy Father, Pausini received Billboard Italy’s “ Global Icon” award for women in music on November 12 and then presented Pope Leo with an unreleased song, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures.

Pope Francis held a deep love for music that reflected his Argentine roots especially the tango as “a melody that evokes nostalgia and hope,” adding that it “comes from deep within me.” He also liked  classical compositions, such as works by Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart, whose work he called “matchless” in Et incarnatus est from his Mass in C Minor. Pope Benedict XVI maintained a lifelong love for classical music, particularly the works of Mozart, which he often played on the piano. He also cherished Bach, including his Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion, which left a lasting impression on his spiritual imagination. Benedict’s musical tastes reveal a reflective pontiff attuned to beauty, harmony, and the transcendent power of art to move the soul. Pope John Paul II often turned to the traditional music of his native Poland, classical compositions, and Gregorian chant, which he called “a unique and universal spiritual heritage.” A favorite song of John Paul II was  Lord, You Have Come to the Seashore, an original 1974 Spanish song known also as  Pescador de Hombres, written by  Spanish priest Cesareo Gabarain.