To commemorate John Paul II’s canonization in 2014, art students at John Paul the Great Catholic University created this video as a tribute, reading from the Holy Father’s 1999 Letter to Artists. Many of the young people reading the excerpts have taken up the call to pursue the arts — as actors, film makers, game creators, etc.
More recently on the other side of the world, students of the Institute of Fine Arts in Beirut, Lebanon, created an installation to bring the works of Vincent van Gogh and Johannes Vermeer to life. It’s a reminder of the vocation of the artist to inspire, bring beauty, and send a message of the “transcendent value and its aura of mystery.”
Within the vast cultural panorama of each nation, artists have their unique place. Obedient to their inspiration in creating works both worthwhile and beautiful, they not only enrich the cultural heritage of each nation and of all humanity, but they also render an exceptional social service in favour of the common good. — John Paul II in his Letter to Artists (from paragraph 4)
And today we celebrate...