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

Pope Leo XIV urged new archbishops to help him foster unity in a church rich in diversity. Eight of those new archbishops are from the United States, and they spoke to Catholic News Service about how they can help promote fraternity in today’s polarized world.
This week on “Jesuitical,” Zac and Ashley chat with Christopher White about his new book, ‘Pope Leo XVI: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy.’
JesuiticalJune 30, 2025
Kerry Weber, incoming president of the Catholic Media Association, and executive editor of America Magazine, speaks June 26, 2025, during the Catholic Media Conference in Phoenix. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)
Kerry Weber is an executive editor for America. On May 20, 2025, the Catholic Media Association announced that she was elected president,
Grace LenahanJune 30, 2025
"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.