Concerning the Pope's homily in the Old Chapel in Regensburg, on the restoration of the organ there, the German and Italian are now available. And we have this English summary:
In the company of his musician-brother Fr Georg Ratzinger - who was his neighbour in the town between 1969 and 1977 when the Pope taught theology in Regensburg University - Benedict said sacred music was not just an addition to the Mass, but an important means of participation in worship.
He described the organ as the king of musical instruments, capable of echoing and expressing all the experiences of human life, but also liable, with wear and tear, to go out of tune. Then he held it up as an image for the Catholic community.
'Just as in an organ an expert hand must constantly bring disharmony back to consonance, so we in the Church, in the variety of our gifts and charisms, always need to find anew, through our communion in faith, harmony in the praise of God and in fraternal love', Benedict said.
And this one:
The organ, he said, is rightly known as the king of musical instruments because it can produce "all the sounds of creation and gives resonance to the fullness of human sentiments."
"By transcending the merely human sphere, as all music of quality does, it evokes the divine. The organ's great range of timbre, from piano through to a thundering fortissimo, makes it an instrument superior to all others," he said.
The pope compared the organ to the church community, saying both need harmony in order to operate well.
One or two false notes are not usually noticed, he said, but "if more pipes are out of tune, dissonance ensues, and the result is unbearable."
"Now, this is an image of our community. Just as in an organ, an expert hand must constantly bring disharmony back to consonance, so we in the church, in the variety of our gifts and charisms, always need to find ane ... harmony in the praise of God and in fraternal love," he said.
