Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Pope Francis' music library is pictured at the Pontifical Council for Culture in this photo published Jan. 12, 2022 to Twitter by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the council. (CNS photo/courtesy Pontifical Council for Culture)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis’ music library contains nearly 2,000 CDs and 19 vinyl records, according to the Vatican cardinal who is curating the collection.

While it is mostly made up of classical music, it also includes: an old album of Édith Piaf’s greatest hits; Argentine tango tunes, especially by Astor Piazzolla; and a 25-disc collection of Elvis Presley’s Gospel songs, said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera Jan. 13, Cardinal Ravasi said he was not at all surprised when he saw images of Pope Francis walking out of a Rome music store with an album tucked under his arm Jan. 11.

Pope Francis’ music library contains nearly 2,000 CDs and 19 vinyl records, according to the Vatican cardinal who is curating the collection.

“In fact, I can’t wait to find out what it is. I hope he sends it to me soon,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Ravasi said he started receiving and curating the pope’s collection of music more than three years ago. It began when the pope sent him a few CDs, saying he knew how much the cardinal liked music, too.

“I replied that I would love to know what music he likes and that’s how it started,” with the pope regularly sending him music, the cardinal said. “I told him I was thinking of creating a music library and, at one point, he sent me a whole box of discs (saying), ‘I’ve already listened to these.’”

Today, the culture office has catalogued and keeps a detailed record of 1,728 CDs and 19 record albums from the pope.

While the pope’s collection is mostly made up of classical music, it also includes a 25-disc collection of Elvis Presley’s Gospel songs.

While some of the recordings are part of the pope’s own personal collection, many of them are gifts the pope has received over the years, Cardinal Ravasi said. They cover a wide variety of genres, which is typical of a true music lover, he added.

The cardinal said the pope told him his love of music came from listening to an opera program on the radio with his mother when he was a boy.

“He sent me the complete collection of recordings at the Teatro Colón (main opera house) of Buenos Aires,” he said.

What stands out, he said, is that often what the pope sends is accompanied by handwritten notes with “extraordinary, expert” comments about the piece. “You can see that he listens to the music carefully.”

Cardinal Ravasi said he has compiled all the commentary and would like to publish it someday as well as see if the papal music library, housed in the council’s office, could be open to experts since the collection “is indicative of his personality and culture.”

The latest from america

On his first Sunday appearance as pope, Leo XIV made a passionate appeal for peace and an end to the armed conflicts in the world, especially in Ukraine and Gaza, and cried out, “Never again war!”
Gerard O’ConnellMay 11, 2025
At this early stage of Leo XIV’s pontificate, the text is a “must read” for Catholics. Here are three notable takeaways.
Sebastian GomesMay 10, 2025
“I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council,” Pope Leo said.
Pope Leo XIVMay 10, 2025
Pope Leo XIV picked one of the most common names in history for a pope. But it is a name with great resonance in modern church history, and one whose selection suggests quite a bit about what the reign of the new pontiff might be like.
James T. KeaneMay 09, 2025