Pope Leo XIV celebrated his 71st birthday at the Vatican Apostolic Library, where the opening of the AQVA exhibition turned a personal occasion into an appeal for cultural exchange and reconciliation. Visitors at the Vatican Museums sang “Feliz cumpleaños,” while library staff prepared a cake during his visit to the Apostolic Archive and Library.¹

The exhibition inaugurates the “Catastrophe and Wonder” cycle and examines water in two contrasting forms: a source of life and a potentially destructive force. It is scheduled to remain on view until May 14, 2027, and includes contemporary installations alongside works from the Vatican’s collections, including historical cookbooks focused on seafood.²

Leo connected the occasion to the role of the library itself. Recalling that his mother had been a librarian, he said divine providence can find ways, “with a certain humor,” to remind people that God remains present. He described the institution not simply as a repository for books, but as a place for study, encounter and the exchange of ideas.¹

In a more developed metaphor, the pope called the Apostolic Library “a heart,” comparing its task to the opposing movements of systole and diastole: preserving what lies at its centre while reaching toward the wider world.² That balance is reflected in AQVA’s combination of centuries-old collections and new art.

Archbishop Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi, the Holy See’s librarian and archivist, similarly presented the exhibition as an argument against isolation. “The generations are intertwined,” he said, adding that people are indebted to those who came before them.² French artist JR, whose ocean-wave installation appears outside the library, cast his contribution in comparable terms, saying an artist’s role is “to create bridges.”²

Leo closed by urging library staff to “continue finding new paths toward reconciliation.”² On the same day, he also approved plans for a new Vatican City building to accommodate the library’s growing manuscript collection.²