“Beauty Has Already Saved the World” – St. John Paul II’s LETTER TO ARTISTS, As Read by Students

“Beauty Has Already Saved the World” – St. John Paul II’s LETTER TO ARTISTS, As Read by Students May 23, 2014

May 2, 2011 – Workers hang a large banner on Bernini’s Colonnade, St. Peter’s Basilica, to celebrate the Beatification of Pope John Paul II (Photo: Kathy Schiffer)

In May 2011, Pope John Paul II was beatified.

And three years later, in April 2014, he was elevated to sainthood.  

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On Easter Sunday, April 4, 1999, Pope John Paul II wrote an open letter to all artists — both Christian and secular — reminding them of their vocation to Beauty. He urged them not to waste their artistic talent but to develop it, and to put it at the service of humanity as an authentic vehicle of culture.

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To commemorate JPII’s canonization, and as a gift to Christian artists throughout the world, students at John Paul the Great Catholic University recorded a three-minute summary of his “Letter to Artists” and posted their inspirational video on YouTube.

Many of the students featured in this video have already taken up the Pope’s invitation to pursue the arts–and are studying film directing, screenwriting, gaming, or acting.


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