Rome, 6 October (AKI) - Artists from all over the world will on 21 November meet Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, the head of the Vatican's culture department, Gianfranco Ravasi, announced on Tuesday. The artists will meet the pontiff in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel, and is intended to see if religious faith and art can still find common ground, Ravasi said.

"Today they seem to be completely at odds," he stated.

Ravasi was speaking at the inauguration at Rome's Palazzo Venezia of a major art exhibition, 'Power and Mercy - the Patron Saints of Europe'.

The exhibition displays the work of such old masters as Caravaggio, El Greco, Van Eyck, Guercino and Titian, which have drawn inspiration from 70 European patron saints.

"This fascinating exhibition represents an opportunity for us to better understand our roots....and also the present," said Italy's culture minister, Sandro Bondi, who also attended Tuesday's inauguration.

The exhibition runs until 31 January and is being sponsored by Italy's Embassy to the Holy See and the Pontifical Commission for the Church's Cultural Assets.