Pope Leo XIV will visit the Vatican Apostolic Library on Monday, September 14, and will inaugurate the first chapter of the exhibition cycle “Catastrophe and Wonder,” entitled “AQVA.” The Vatican Apostolic Library announced on Sunday that the Pope will visit the Library on Monday, September 14, at 11 AM to inaugurate the exhibition cycle “AQVA. Catastrophe and Wonder.” The exhibition will be open to visitors on selected days of the week from September 25 through May 14, 2027.
‘A home where past and future can meet as friends’. The display brings together the works of three contemporary figures – French artist JR, American typographer Bill Moran, and the Italian chef Fulvio Pierangelini – in dialogue with the collections and spaces of the Pope’s Library, offering a reflection on water as both a threat and a resource. Each of the three artistic collaborators reinterprets the Library’s historical collections through their own artistic practices.
The Librarian and Archivist of the Holy Roman Church, Monsignor Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi, expressed his delight to welcome the Holy Father, noting the exhibition “are intended to foster dialogue between contemporary art and the Library’s centuries-old heritage.
“On several occasions,” Monsignor Pagazzi recalled, “the Pope has emphasized fidelity to the past and fidelity to the future. The present – including the present of this exhibition – can become a home where past and future meet as friends.” The Vatican Apostolic Library, an ancient institution dedicated to preservation and research, belongs to the Pope and is closely connected to the governance and ministry of the Holy See.
