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Pope Leo XIV presents Riccardo Muti with the 2025 Ratzinger Prize which recognizes individuals who have made noteworthy contributions in the fields of Christian-inspired culture and art, Dec. 12, 2025.
Copyright @VaticanMedia
ROME – On December 12, Pope Leo XIV awarded the prestigious 2025 Ratzinger Prize to Riccardo Muti, the CSO’s Music Director Emeritus for Life, in a ceremony that followed a Christmas concert led by Muti and given in the Pope’s honor in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican in Rome. The concert and ceremony were attended by a capacity audience of nearly 6,000 people, including Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago. Prior to the ceremony, Muti met Pope Leo, who shares ties to Chicago having grown up in the southwestern suburb of Dolton, IL. Pope Leo made history earlier this year as the first American elected as Pope.
Established in 2011, and awarded annually with the Pope’s approval by the Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, the Ratzinger Prize recognizes individuals who have made noteworthy contributions in the fields of Christian-inspired culture and art. Previous recipients have been internationally recognized theologians, biblical scholars, and artists.
In a statement about the 2025 award, the Foundation said: “The immense value of Maestro Muti’s art is universally recognized, and even Benedict XVI considered himself a sincere admirer. For his part, the Maestro reciprocated this esteem with repeated personal displays of attention and affection, even when Pope Benedict, after his resignation, was at the “Mater Ecclesiae” Monastery.
Upon learning of the award, Muti said “I have always followed and deeply admired Pope Benedict XVI, whose thoughts, reflections, and meditations have been and will continue to be a source of [spiritual] nourishment for men and women of goodwill.”
When asked by Italy’s La Repubblica what words he would share with Pope Leo XIV, Muti said, “For the Augustinian Pope, who is from Chicago, I will present myself as music director emeritus of the Chicago Symphony and perhaps we will talk about this city with shared enthusiasm. I think we may come to a harmonious understanding of the words of St. Augustine, who said “cantare amantis est, singing belongs to one who loves.”
Pope Leo XIV joins other audience members for the Christmas concert conducted by Riccardo Muti as part of a special program that also included Muti’s receipt of the prestigious 2025 Ratzinger Prize, Dec. 12, 2025.
Copyright @VaticanMedia
After attending the ceremony in Rome, Cardinal Cupich commented:
“It was a great privilege and honor to be present when Pope Leo XIV presented Maestro Riccardo Muti with the prestigious 2025 Ratzinger Prize, the very special award from the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation. The late Pope Benedict loved music, and I imagine this would have pleased him very much. Since first meeting Maestro Muti in 2017 and participating with him and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra musicians in a concert at Holy Name Cathedral, it has been an honor and pleasure for me to attend many of his concerts. Maestro Muti’s positive impact on the Chicago community has been transformational and his exceptional artistry and commitment to connecting people all over the world to music and beauty demonstrate why he was an ideal choice.”
Since their 2017 meeting, Cupich has attended a number of Chicago Symphony Orchestra performances conducted by Muti, including a concert at Rome’s Teatro ‘dell Opera di Roma that marked the finale of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s critically acclaimed 2024 European Tour.
Riccardo Muti and Archbishop of Chicago Blase J. Cupich with the CSO following a community performance at Holy Name Cathedral, Feb. 17, 2017.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich joined members of the CSO and Riccardo Muti at Holy Name Cathedral for a special community performance of Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross, Feb. 17, 2017.
Todd Rosenberg Photography
CSOA President Jeff Alexander added:
“There are few conductors in the history of classical music who have had a broader reach and greater impact than Riccardo Muti. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association is proud to congratulate him on receiving the prestigious Ratzinger Prize. A very well-deserved honor for someone who has included in his musical activities so many projects for world peace, friendship, education and community engagement.”
For the occasion of the Christmas concert that accompanied the Ratzinger Prize ceremony, Muti chose Luigi Cherubini’s Mass for the Coronation of Charles X from 1885, performed by the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra and the Guido Chigi Saracini Choir of the Cathedral of Siena. Muti founded the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra in 2004 as part of his ongoing commitment to teaching the next generation of musicians and continues to lead the orchestra in performances as part of his Italian Opera Academy programs and during the annual concerts for Le vie dell’Amicizia (The Roads of Friendship), a project of the Ravenna Festival in Italy that brings music to many of the world’s most troubled areas in order to bring attention to civic and social issues.
Throughout his tenure as tenth music director from 2010 to 2023, Muti regularly led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in performances of sacred music. In anticipation of his inaugural season as music director, he led Verdi’s Requiem with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus; the subsequent recording on CSO Resound was recognized with two Grammy awards. At Holy Name Cathedral, Muti conducted the Orchestra in Haydn’s The Seven Last Words of Our Savior on the Cross with Archbishop Blase Cupich as narrator. With the Orchestra and Chorus, he also led Cherubini’s Requiem, J.S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Brahms’ German Requiem, Schubert’s Masses nos. 5 and 6, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Mozart’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Magnificat and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, which capped his tenure as music director.
