There was a press conference today in the Vatican, presided over by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, to present an art exhibit entitled “The Path of Peter.” The exhibit, which traces St. Peter’s journey in faith, officially opens February 6 at 6 p.m at Rome’s Castel Sant’Angelo. It is one of the many cultural and spiritual activities offered by the pontifical council for the Year of Faith, a year entrusted by Benedict XVI to this Vatican dicastery.There will be a special guided tour tomorrow morning for the media accredited to the Holy See Press Office. I hope to bring you photos and video of that exhibit. Plan on attending if you will be in Rome between February 6 and May 1.
HIGHLIGHTS AND HIGH NOTES OF A VATICAN CONCERT
I had a chance yesterday afternoon to meet Maestro Zubin Mehta who was in Rome for a concert offered to Pope Benedict by the Italian Embassy to the Holy See in celebration of the 84th anniversary of the Lateran Accords. Mehta led the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra in a performace of "The Force of Destiny" by Giuseppe Verdi, and "Symphony No. 3 in E flat major," also known as the "Eroica," by Ludwig van Beethoven.
A niece of mine married a cousin of the famous conductor who shares the same name – Zubin Mehta. My nephew-in-law’s father and the conductor’s father were cousins, born and raised in the community of Bandra, s suburb of Mumbai. The conductor’s father Mehli Mehta was also a celebrated conductor as well as a violinist, and was for 12 years director of the Orchestra Department at UCLA. In 1964 he founded the American Youth symphony and offered to give (nephew) Zubin music lessons but he lived too far away at the time.
A press attaché for the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra told me that Zubin Mehta would hold a rehearsal in the Paul VI Hall from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., and suggested I go either before or after those times. The Vatican’s gendarmerie and Swiss Guards facilitated my entry into the hall at 3 p.m, where, among other things, I was able to see what goes on before an event where the Holy Father will be present.
In the half hour I waited for the rehearsal to end, I saw the arrival of gendarmes, Swiss Guards, Vatican firemen and the well known and always immaculately dressed gentlemen of His Holiness who make sure that VIPs are escorted to the proper seats.
A little background on these Gentlemen:
Also called Papal Gentlemen, they are attendants to the Pope during official ceremonies in the Vatican – including Wednesday general audiences, papal Masses and visits by heads of State and of government. Such visits are state visits, official visits or private visits and the attire worn by these men - and by the Pope as well - usually changes, even slightly, for each different kind of visit.
Until 1968, when Pope Paul VI changed their title and function, they were known as Papal Chamberlains (full name: Papal Chamberlains of the Sword and Cape). Most came from families – usually nobility – that had long served the Pope and the papal court. While there is no noble class today in Italy, the descendants of nobility often still serve the Holy Father. The post is not hereditary, though it may happen in certain families that these Gentlemen serve, their sons serve, and perhaps even their grandsons.
Most wear decorations they have rceived from the Pope or other non-papal honors. It is the Gentlemen of His Holiness who bear the coffin during the funeral Mass when a Pope dies.
After the dress rehearsal I was able to briefly speak with conductor Mehta, telling him of my nephew (and his relative) and showing him photos of the family today.
The concert would not start for another two hours so I found a seat, checked email on my phone, read the concert program placed on each seat and began to watch the VIPS as they, and the general public, trickled in. Clergy from cardinals to bishops to black-clad monsignori filed into the hall, as did dignitaries from Italian ministries, noble families and embassies. They were joined by students, nuns and priests working at the Roman Curia and by hundreds of people who simply love good music.
I enjoyed being in the audience hall at this hour of the day as I could see the sunlight streaming in the beautiful, oval stained-glass windows of the hall once named for its architect and designer, the Nervi Hall.
Pope Benedict and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano met privately in a room adjacent to the audience hall for about 20 minutes before the 6 p.m. start of the concert. The president’s seven-year mandate is about to expire, and he mentioned this later in the Paul VI Hall in an opening address to Benedict XVI.Pope Benedict arrives in Paul VI Hall.
From the giant screen in the hall: President Napolitano addreses the Holy Father.
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Maestro Zubin Mehta enters stage left.
Here Mehta directs Verdi’s "The Force of Destiny":
One of two Swiss Guards on stage: 
The lighting on the sculpture behind the orchestra changed throughout the evening.
Much has been written and said about the sculpture that dominates the west wall, “The Resurrection” by Pericle Fazzini, which is 20 meters wide and made of brass and bronze. The much-discussed work of art purports to show, in the eyes of the architect, Christ rising from a nuclear bomb crater. In a book he wrote about this work, Fazzini said: ''Suddenly there came to me the idea of Christ preaching peace for 2,000 years, and the place where He prayed for the last time: the olive grove of Gethsemane. I had the idea of depicting Christ as if He were rising again from the explosion of this large olive grove, peaceful site of His last prayers. Christ rises from this crater torn open by a nuclear bomb, an atrocious explosion, a vortex of violence and energy.”
An overview of the hall and concert stage.
Pope Benedict addressed the concert guests after the performance. He said choice of "The Force of Destiny" was "a fitting tribute to the great Italian composer on the 200th anniversary of his birth.” His works "know how to capture and treat the situations of life in music, above all the drama of the human soul, in such an immediate, incisive, and essential way that is rare to find in the musical panorama.” 
“The destiny he gives his characters is always tragic,” said the Pope. “However, dealing with the theme of destiny, Verdi finds himself taking on the theme of religion directly; he confronts God, faith, the Church. And once again this composer’s spirit re-emerges: his restlessness, his religious quest. ‘The Force of Destiny … gives shape to the drama of human existence, marked by a tragic destiny and by nostalgia for God, His mercy, and His love that gives light, meaning, and hope even in the midst of darkness.”Benedict XVI also spoke briefly about Beethoven's Third Symphony which, he noted, “was dedicated to Napoleon, but the great German composer changed his mind after Bonaparte proclaimed himself emperor, changing the title to 'Composition Celebrating the Memory of a Great Man'. Beethoven's music expresses the idea of a heroic bearer of freedom and equality who has to choose between resignation and battle, between death and life, between surrender and victory. … I am not going to analyse the Symphony's four movements, but just mention the second, the celebrated 'Funeral March' … a stunning meditation on death …that invites us to reflect on what is beyond, on the infinite.”
The Holy Father then received Maestro Zubin Mehta and several members of the orchestra.
According to the concert program, the evening was made possible through the support of the Flying Angels Foundation, a non-profit organization that furnishes free airline tickets for very ill children under the age of 18, accompanied by an adult, or for doctors or assistants who are traveling to an operation for a critically ill child. As the foundation’s website says, ‘FLIGHT, JOURNEY, LIFE: this, in short, is the mission of Flying Angels. Angels’ reach ‘Big Angels’, or in some cases vice-versa, to receive the necessary treatments that can save them or return them to a healthy and dignified life.Write to Joan at:
joansrome@ewtn.com
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