Vatican City, 05 November, 2021 / 11:30 am (ACI Africa).
Pope Francis said Friday that the Church must bear witness to the importance of beauty as he inaugurated a new art gallery at the Vatican Apostolic Library.
The pope said that true beauty is not about appearances or ornament, but springs from the root of “goodness, truth, and justice.”
“We must not, however, neglect to think and speak of beauty, because the human heart does not need bread alone, it does not need only that which guarantees its immediate survival: it also needs culture, that which touches the soul, which brings the human being closer to his profound dignity,” Pope Francis said in the Vatican’s historic library on Nov. 5.
“The Church must bear witness to the importance of beauty and culture, dialoguing with the unique thirst for the infinite that defines the human being.”
Pope Francis pointed out that in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus challenged his disciples to give glory to God by making his beauty visible through their good works.