I guess Pope John Paul II, like me, was enraptured by the otherworldly music of the most grandiose concert ever held in Paul VI Hall.

A dark blue light hovered over the 4,000 attendees. Hundreds of men and women crowded the stage to sing and play violins, violas, cellos, basses, flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, French and English horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, harps, organ and percussion. Behind them stood the large and lively statue of the risen Christ with its mystifying game of lights and shadows.

It was the Concert of Reconciliation.

Organized by the pontifical councils for Promoting Christian Unity and for Interreligious Dialogue and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the Jan. 17 concert was attended by the Pope, the chief rabbis of Israel and Rome, the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, members of the Vatican Curia and Muslim leaders of Rome's mosque.

Renowned American conductor Gilbert Levine, called “the Pope's Maestro” for his artistic relationship with John Paul, conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as well as the London and the Krakow Philharmonic Choirs, the Turkish Ankara Polyphonic Choir and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.

The performance of American John Harbison's premiere Sacred Motet “Abraham” was followed by that of Gustav M a h l e r ’ s Symphony II “Resurrection.” Thus, “the universal language of music,” as the Pope called it, reflected two fundamental tenets of faith common to Christians, Jews and Muslims: a reverence for our common patriarch Abraham and our belief in the concept of resurrection from the dead.

The concert was the climax of an intense week busy with audiences and meetings focused on the themes of peace and love.

It began with John Paul's annual address to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

…..“It is more urgent than ever to return to a more effective collective security that gives to the United Nations the place and role that correspond to it,” he said. “It is more necessary than ever to learn the lessons of the distant and recent past. In any case, one thing is clear: War does not resolve conflicts between people!” The Pope then spoke of the role of faith and religion in society as a force to build peace. He followed what he called the Christian duty “to form ourselves and others for peace.”

On Wednesday, the Holy Father was in good humor at the general audience as he improvised words addressed to more than 4,000 pilgrims, including many children, who sang songs for him. As the Holy Father smiled, most of the pilgrims began to chant: “We love you!” “You say: ‘We love you,’” the Pope responded, “I also love you!” He smiled again and the audience broke out in loud applause.

On Thursday the Pope received Roman officials. He told them to support the family because it is the primary place “to realize the civilization of love.”

“The way to defeat and prevent all forms of violence is to commit oneself to constructing the civilization of love,” the Pope said. “Love, in fact — I have underlined it in the message for the recent World Day of Peace — is the highest and most noble form of relationship of human beings among themselves. How can one not think of the family as the primary locus to realize the civilization of love? The family represents the human realm in which the person, from the beginning of his existence, can experience the warmth of affection and grow in a harmonious way.”

On Friday the Holy Father received in audience the participants of a national congress on women. “It is important that woman keep alive the awareness of this fundamental vocation,” he told them. “She fulfills herself only by giving love, with her singular ‘genius’ that assures sensitivity.”

On the same day, John Paul received the chief rabbis of Israel in audience — a meeting characterized as “historic” by the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See. “We must spare no effort in working together to build a world of justice, peace and reconciliation for all peoples,” the Pope said.

Love and peace — these were the two themes the Holy Father constantly played during the week and has been playing for the last 25 years of his pontificate. A Concert of Reconciliation was a meaningful ending note to the Pope's efforts to raise humanity to the civilization of peace and love.

“O believe, my heart, believe, nothing of you will be lost!” sang the beautiful voice of Mezzosoprano Birgit Remmert during the fifth movement of Gustav Mahler's Symphony II. “What you longed for is yours, what you loved and champion is yours!”

I saw the Pope with his left hand on his forehead and his eyes closed in meditation.

“With wings that I wrested for myself, in the fervent struggle of love, I shall fly away to the light, which no eyed pierced!” sang the soprano, the mezzosoprano and the choir. “Die I shall, so as to live. Rise again, yes rise again you will, my heart, in a trice! Your pulsation will carry you to God!”

Maybe they were singing aloud the Pope's sentiments in January 2004.

Legionary of Christ Father Alfonso Aguilar teaches philosophy at Regina Apostolorum

Pontifical University in Rome and can be reached at [email protected].