music

The Central African Republic is one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world. It was here that a Capuchin priest decided to start something that might have sounded too crazy to many — a music school.

The members of the deathcore metal band Voluntary Mortification are considerate country neighbors, wrapping up garage rehearsals by 8:30 p.m., before the sun disappears over the surrounding fields.

Taylor Swift’s movie is a powerful summation of her life and work so far. The idea for the film was to craft an experience just as communal and immersive as the vocalist’s live events.

Brandon Byrne was a featured performer at this year’s Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival in Sedalia: “I feel like God’s fingerprints are on anything beautiful, because he made his creation very good. And anything that reflects that beauty will draw people to God himself.”

“When I went to St. Cloud’s website, there it is right there: ‘heart of mercy, voice of hope, hands of justice.’ And I’m like, what a stunning mission statement for a diocese,” Steven Warner said. “It’s very humbling to be able to put music around a lofty ideal.”

“Music has this really unique ability to really capture the heart of the mystery of the Eucharist,” said Marilyn Santos, associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis.

Here is a collection of notable quotes from Pope Benedict XVI from homilies, documents, messages and speeches from 2005 to 2013, the years he served as pope.

As Guido Monaco, an 11th-century Italian, poured over the manuscripts in the abbey’s library, he wondered: Why couldn’t music be written down and read like the words in a book?