“Sacred music is an expression of that outbound Church of which Pope
Francis speaks, a Church that is not afraid to speak the language of man
and his needs, of which music is a high and universal expression”. The Prefect of the Papal Household, Mgr. Georg Gänswein, said this, presenting the CD of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir titled “Palestrina. Missa Papæ Marcelli – Motets”, a monographic work on Pierluigi de Palestrina.
“Outside this context” Mgr. Gänswein, “there would be no point in having an institution such as the Sistine Chapel Choir, as simply creating some good music does not justify its existence, even less so when we consider the fact that it is fully integrated in that ancient institution that is the Domus pontificalis, the house of the Pope. This evangelising purpose, which necessarily renders what is human even more human, is the most profound raison d’être of the professional work of this ancient institution , which has a great past and a highly promising future.”