Pope visits Venice to speak to the artists and inmates behind the Biennales must-see prison show | KLRT [Video]

VENICE, Italy (AP) — Venice has always been a place of contrasts, of breathtaking beauty and devastating fragility, where history, religion, art and nature have collided over the centuries to produce an otherworldly gem of a city. But even for a place that prides itself on its culture of unusual encounters, Pope Francis’ visit Sunday stood out.

Francis traveled to the lagoon city to visit the Holy See’s pavilion at the Biennale contemporary art show and meet with the people who created it. But because the Vatican decided to mount its exhibit in Venice’s women’s prison, and invited inmates to collaborate with the artists, the whole project took on a far more complex meaning, touching on Francis’ belief in the power of art to uplift and unify, and of the need to give hope and solidarity to society’s most marginalized.

Francis hit on both messages during his visit, which began …