(ANS - Vatican City) - On 28 June, the Synodal Choir of the Moscow Patriarchate sang with the Papal Choir of the Sistine Chapel, in a concert entitled "Ut unum sint"; and the following day, Sunday 29 - as reported by the Spanish edition of the Zenit Agency- they took part in the celebration of the liturgy at St. Peter's basilica, on the feast of Saints Peter and Paul.

On the 28th, the two choirs sang in the Sistine Chapel, below the fresco of the Last Judgement, and they brought out the musical traditions from the two lungs of the Church, the Eastern and the West. The two choir masters, Msgr. Massimo Palombella SDB, of the Sistine Chapel Choir, and Master Aleksej Puzakov, director of the Moscow Synodal Choir, took turns at conducting the ensemble.

During an interview with the Vatican Radio, Msgr. Palombella recently stated that “it is through art where in bridges of dialogue and encounters are set forth, using common sources and languages that go beyond theology and diplomacy."

The director of the Sistine Chapel Choir admitted that they felt most uncertain with the Choir of Moscow because "with the Anglican Choir of Westminster or the Lutheran St. Thomas Choir in Leipzig, we were in a European context, where it is easy to find common sources. Here, however, we have cultural realities that are farthest. But in the end, the response had been excellent, because we made a double movement: we have sung in Russian and they did also in Latin."

The Salesian also said that he had not been asked to adapt to the other, but that "we both took a step towards a common ground." Msgr. Palombella emphasized that also in the participation of the Synodal Choir in the liturgy of June 29 at St. Peter's, which began with the 'Tu es Petrus' by Palestrina, conducted by the Maestro Puzakov. "These are momentous signs, from the cultural and ecumenical points of view."

These initiatives, Msgr. Palombella said, were already begun during the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, when the Sistine Chapel Choir sang along with the Anglican Choir of Westminster. Then, during the prepations for a similar event with the Lutheran Choir of Leipzig, the election of Pope Francis took place. So a letter was written to the new Pontiff, if there was an intention to continue the process: "Absolutely yes!" was the Pope's reply. Msgr. Palombella noted that this proposal was actually a significant gesture of reaching out to the Orthodox Church, which has received a strong boost from Pope Francis.

Finally Msgr. Palombella recalled that in the field of arts, differences are readily overcome, just like during the Prayer for Peace which took place in the Vatican Gardens, where musicians -Jews, Muslims and Christians- all played their instruments together.

Posted on 07/02/2014