Benedict XVI received the Degree of Doctor honoris causa from the Cracow Academy of Music and the Pontifical John Paul II University in Cracow

Abstract

On the day of 4th July 2015 in Castel Gandolfo, His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope-Emeritus, received the Degree honoris causa from the Pontifical John Paul II University in Cracow and the Cracow Academy of Music. On 20th April 2015 the Senate of the Pontifical John Paul II University in Cracow, upon hearing the reviews, conferred on Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI the Degree of Doctor honoris causa. In the justification we can read that the honorary doctorate has been awarded for: proving great respect to the musical tradition of the Church and remarkable sensitivity to the dialogue between music and faith; long-years demonstrating, from all his clerical posts, a special concern for the noble beauty of sacred music and its proper place in the celebration of the sacred liturgical rites of the Church; emphasising in his teaching the meaning of via pulchritudinis – the way of beauty which may become the way to get to know and worship God by the modern man; brave testifying, with his life, service, teaching and scientific work, the Truth which gives strength to the Christian faith in the times of spiritual turmoil caused by liberalism, post-modernism and relativism, as well as tireless endeavor to restore the spiritual dimension in Europe; giving wholehearted support for the actions aiming at transforming the Pontifical John Paul II Academy of Theology in Cracow into the Pontifical John Paul II University. On 22 April 2015 the Senate of the Cracow Academy of Music passed the resolution to have been submitted by the Faculty Council for Artistic Creativity, Interpretation and Music Education, and on hearing the excerpts from the reviews, granted the Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI the honoris causa degree. The appointed lauadator was Professor Stanisław Krawczyński. In the justification of the Senate resolution it is written that the honorary doctorate has been granted in recognition of the following merits: exhibiting by his example the model of moral and civil demeanour in the deeply religious and humanistic dimension; referring in his teaching to the highest values invariably present in human life and artistic activity; cherishing music and indicating its special role as an integral part of the solemn liturgy of Catholic Church accompanying man in the act of professing faith. The retired Pontiff Benedict XVI thanked once again for the recognition granted by conferring upon him honoris causa doctorate. He said: I am especially happy that this recognition has deepened my relationship with Poland, with Cracow, with the mother country of our great Saint John Paul II without whom I could not imagine my spiritual and theological way. Through his living example he showed to us, as well, how to combine the joy of exquisite sacred music with the duty of common participation in liturgy, how to combine exalted delight with humble simplicity of celebrating faith. Then, when reminding the history of the revival of sacred music he accented his peculiar love for the music of Mozart. My memory still bears this indelible recollection of the first chords of Mozart’s Coronation Mass which sounded as if heaven opened and when one might feel very deeply the presence of the Lord. It seems also worth mentioning how he described certain tension between participatio actuosa and the position of sacred music in the modern liturgy, particularly this solemn accompanied with a choir and orchestra. The Pope’s questions raised in this context were masterly: What is music really? Whence does it come and toward what does it tend? I think there should be posited three ‘loci’ from which music arises. And the questions were followed by a truly prophetic vision of the place of music in today’s liturgy. Thus amongst the specified three “loci” from which music originates, the first is the experience of love, the second is the experience of sadness, death, pain and the abyss of existence, and the third one is the encounter with the divine, which from the beginning is part of what defines man. About the first origin of music the Pope-Emeritus said: When men were seized by love, another dimension of being burst within them, another greatness and another breadth of reality. And it also led them to express themselves in new ways. Poetry, song and music in general were all born from this being affected, from this unfolding of a new dimension of life. When analysing the second origin of music the honoris causa laureate stated that it also opens up, in the opposite way, new dimensions of reality which can no longer find an answer in mere speeches. The most extended interpretation presented by the Pope-Emeritus concerned the third reality in which  the totally-other and totally-great arouses in man new ways of expressing himself. Perhaps we can say that actually in the other two areas – love and death – the mystery of the divine touches us and, in this sense, it is being touched by God which together constitutes the origin of music. It is touching when we discern that, for instance as regards Psalms, people do not confine to mere singing, but refer to all instruments: and the hidden music of creation is aroused with its mysterious language. Along with the Psalter in which we can find the two motifs of love and death, we can reach the very source of the music of the God’s Church. We can say that the quality of music depends on the purity and greatness of one’s encounter with the divine, with their experience of love and of pain. The more pure and true that experience is, the more pure and great will be the music from which it was born and developed. What the Pope-Emeritus said in the ensuing part of his doctorate speech – I am truly convinced – was the manifestation of profound wisdom and experience of sanctity of the Pope who does not only knows what liturgy and music in are but who is also a true apostle in this field. The magnificent and pure Western music has developed as an answer to the encounter with God who embodies Himself in liturgy in the person of Jesus Christ. This music is for me the expression of Christian truth. Wherever such an answer is developed we encounter the truth, with the true Creator of the world. Because of this the great sacred music is a reality of theological rank and of permanent significance for the faith of all Christianity, even if it is not at all necessary that it be done always and everywhere. On the other hand, such music cannot disappear from the liturgy and its presence can be a special way of participation in the sacred celebration, in the mystery of faith. In the final part of his lecture the Pope-Emeritus referred once more to Saint John Paul II, finishing with the rhetorical question: We do not know what will be the future of sacred music, but one thing is clear: wherever the encounter with the Living God, who in Christ comes close to us really occurs, there is born anew and there again grows the answer, the beauty of which arises out of truth itself. Showing again the great respect for both universities he emphasised and indicated their future prospects: The activities of both Universities which confer on me the honoris causa doctorates have greatly contributed to sacred music so that this tremendous gift of the music derived from the Christian tradition would still be living and so that the creative power of faith would not falter in the future. For all this I wish to thank you profusely, not only for the honour which you bestow upon me, but also for the entire work you do in the service of the beauty of faith. For the Intercollegiate Institute of Sacred Music in Cracow, for the faculty members and students of this institute which initiated the entire event and which integrates both universities by running the mutual sacred music studies, these were the encouraging words to make us work even harder so as to serve the beauty of music. The closing sentence expressed by the Pope in Polish was especially touching:  May the Lord bless you all!