The Vatican has helped sponsor a concert with music composed by a top Russian Orthodox bishop.Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria (pic'd here), the Russian church's representative to the European Union, recently wrote and composed the two-hour work titled "The Passion According to Matthew."
The music, written for soloists, choir and orchestra, made its debut in Moscow March 27 to an audience that included Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.
The Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and Pontifical Council for Culture helped bring the music to Rome, where it was performed March 29 at the St. Cecilia Auditorium, a few blocks from St. Peter's Basilica.
Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the culture council, said the concert was "an extraordinary and unique event."
A musical performance written in the Orthodox tradition and performed in the city which represents the heart of Catholicism is an "eloquent instrument of ecumenical dialogue and striking cultural exchange," the cardinal said during a March 28 press conference.
The concert also marked another important step in the ongoing process of fostering greater awareness and understanding between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches, which are already "deeply involved on a path of reciprocal respect, dialogue and collaboration," he said.
The cardinal remarked it was "a happy coincidence" that Easter was being celebrated on the same day this year by both churches.
In a March 29 interview on Vatican Radio, Bishop Hilarion said he was thrilled his work was performed the year Easter fell on the same day for the churches.
"This underlines the fact that the deep meaning of our faith is the same and that our religious experience is really the resurrection of Christ," he said.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce