At Venice's Church of Santa Maria Maddalena, Pope Francis met with artists participating in the international art exhibition called the Venice Art Biennale.

The Holy See also has a pavilion at the exhibition, called “With my eyes.” Pope Francis explained the meaning behind it: because all people have the need to be “looked at and recognized.” He said that it is necessary for art to help “educate the gaze so that it is not indifferent or superficial.”

POPE FRANCIS
I confess that next to them I do not feel like a stranger: I feel at home. And I believe that this is actually true for every human being, because, for all intents and purposes, art has the status of a “city of refuge,” an entity that disobeys the regime of violence and discrimination to create forms of human belonging capable of recognizing, including, protecting, and embracing everyone.

Pope Francis invited the artists present to make their art a struggle against selfishness. He reminded them that the pavilion of the Vatican is on display in a Venice women's prison for a very special reason.

POPE FRANCIS
There is a joy and a suffering united in the feminine, in a unique way that we must listen to, because it has something important to teach us.

At the end of the meeting, Pope Francis greeted each of the artists present.

PA
TR: AT