This is amazing!
EWTN News In-Depth recently interviewed world-renowned opera singer Andrea Bocelli and wife Victoria about his charity work through the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. Journalist Colm Flynn asks Bocelli how his Catholic faith influences his work and his personal life.
Bocelli was born with congenital glaucoma, causing blindness at age 12. The singer explains that he never expected his success, and attributes it to a “grand design.”
“I have always loved to sing. Singing has always been my true passion. But I didn’t like to sing when I was playing football with my friends. I didn’t like being disturbed or distracted from my games.
“People would always call me, ‘Come on, sing for us!’ And then they started calling me to sing in church, at birthday parties, at school–everywhere. So it became…meant to be.”
The singer, who performed for three popes, later explains his long-held passion for his Catholic faith.
“For me, I can say [my Catholic faith] is the reason for life. Because life, even if it lasts 100 years, is so insignificant when you compare it to eternity. If life did not exist–an eternal life–life after life–then everything would lose all meaning.
“So my faith comes from extremely simple reasoning. I do not believe in the clock without the clockmaker. I don’t think anything can be achieved without someone who has designed and built it. Therefore, I have faith. I have a lot of faith in the one who made the world.”
Flynn then asks, “I read once a quote from you that said, ‘Everyone has a destiny, but destiny is God’. What did you mean by that?”
“Whoever puts his life in the hands of the one who created it, who wants him, desires and loves him, puts their life in good hands.”
“It is absolutely true that to whom much is given, much is asked. I cannot imagine what would be asked of me when I find myself face-to-face with the one who made the world, because so much has been given to me,” Bocelli continues.
“I have had a life of rich possibilities, of experiences. So much received, and so there is so much I should try to give.”
Bocelli then explains how his faith influenced his founding of the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, which “aims to empower the poor and those in need all over the world, focusing on educational projects.”
“If I had to pinpoint a moment when I had the greatest desire within me to do something for the world, it would be the time when Veronica woke me up in tears because of what happened in Haiti, with the earthquake and the tragedy that was happening in the country.
“In that moment, I understood that the time had come for me to be active and to do something.”
The interview goes on to discuss Bocelli’s concert in the empty Milan Cathedral last year during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is difficult to find words that can really uplift those who are suffering,” Bocelli says. “Suffering is a condition that has always touched me deeply. It is always difficult to say a word to comfort those who really suffer.
“But, certainly, humanity has known even more difficult times than this. So one must look with great optimism forward, because, this time too will pass.”
Listen to the full interview below:
Click here if you cannot see the video above.
What do you think of the interview?
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[See also: Andrea Bocelli Gives Beautifully Catholic Easter Performance from Empty Milan Cathedral]