Earlier this month, the Vatican released a short list of Pope Leo XIV’s favorite movies, featuring classics such as The Sound of Music and It’s a Wonderful Life. The announcement offered a rare glimpse into the Holy Father’s personal tastes. Another insight soon followed during an award ceremony for Italian singer Laura Pausini, where the Pope revealed that he had followed her music for decades.

In the presence of the Holy Father, Pausini received Billboard Italy’s “Global Icon” award for women in music on Nov. 12. The 51-year-old Grammy winner, known for her romantic pop ballads that have reached millions worldwide, presented Pope Leo with an unreleased song, Brother Sun, Sister Moon, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures.

Acknowledging his long-standing admiration for the En Cambio No singer, the Pope shared, “Since the Sanremo festival, I won’t say the year... since the eighties, I was already a fan,” referencing an Italian song contest held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria.

This appreciation extends far beyond classical or traditional works. Pausini’s contemporary, emotive style offers a glimpse into the personal interests of the Holy Father, reflecting a human warmth and cultural resonance that popes have long found in music.

Here is a brief look at the varied musical tastes of Leo’s immediate predecessors, which helps us to better appreciate the artistry that moved the hearts of these men as they sought to inspire others with the Gospel message.

Pope Francis

Pope Francis held a deep love for music that reflected his Argentine roots and contemplative sensibilities. He spoke of tango as “a melody that evokes nostalgia and hope,” adding that it “comes from deep within me.”

Classical compositions also held a special place in his heart, such as works by Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart, whose work he called “matchless” in Et incarnatus est from his Mass in C Minor. Together, these preferences reveal a pontiff sensitive to emotion and the human heart, one for whom music offered both personal resonance and a means of connecting with the faithful.

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI maintained a lifelong love for classical music, particularly the works of Mozart, which he often played on the piano. Reflecting on his childhood in Traunstein, he recalled that hearing Mozart felt as though “heaven stood open,” each composition expressing a kind of sublime inspiration.

He also cherished Bach, including his Mass in B Minor and the St. Matthew Passion, which left a lasting impression on his spiritual imagination. Benedict’s musical tastes reveal a reflective pontiff attuned to beauty, harmony, and the transcendent power of art to move the soul.

Pope St. John Paul II

Pope John Paul II often turned to the traditional music of his native Poland, classical compositions, and Gregorian chant, which he called “a unique and universal spiritual heritage.”

A favorite song of John Paul II was Barka, also known as Lord, You Have Come to the Seashore, a Polish translation of the original 1974 Spanish song. During his last pilgrimage to Poland in 2002, John Paul referred to Barka as a “guide on the variety of paths of the Church,” leading him spiritually to “the Blonie of Krakow, to the foot of Kosciuszko Hill.”

He also admired contemporary film scores, citing John Barry’s soundtrack for Dances with Wolves as a personal favorite.

These musical preferences reveal a pontiff deeply perceptive to artistry and grandeur, one who used music as a bridge linking personal memory, national culture, and the broader human experience.

Where Beauty Meets Papacy

From the pop melodies of Laura Pausini to the radiance of Mozart and the devotional richness of traditional hymns, the musical preferences of recent pontiffs highlight the simple truth that the men who lead the Church also listen and respond to beauty in deeply personal ways. These choices offer fleeting glimpses into the interior lives behind the white cassock where memory, culture, and prayer converge.

The music that resonates with each pontiff illuminates his humanity: leaders shaped by experience and tradition, carrying into their ministry the songs that once formed their hearts. In these melodies, echoes of their worldview emerge, and with them, a quiet reminder that beauty in music holds a place in the life of the Church.