Liturgical musicians have the unique calling to interpret God’s will and love through song and praise, Pope Francis said.

“Every Christian, in fact, is an interpreter of the will of God in his or her own life, and by his or her life sings a joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God,” the Pope said on Nov. 9 during a meeting with participants at a Vatican conference on interpreting sacred music.

The conference, titled “Church, Music, Interpreters: A Necessary Dialogue,” was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music and the Pontifical Athenaeum of St Anselm.

Reflecting on the conference theme, the Pope said most people think of interpreters as a kind of translator who conveys what “he or she has received in such a way that another person can understand it.”

Although good interpreters in the field of music essentially “translate” what a composer has written, they also should feel “great humility before a work of art that is not their property,” and to “bring out the beauty of the music.”