Pope Benedict XVI has invited 500 artists from around the world to a rare meeting at the Sistine Chapel in November to revive links between art and religion, the Vatican said.

It will be the first such meeting since Pope Paul VI 45 years ago met artists at the chapel famous for its frescoes painted by Michelangelo.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Roman Catholic Church's relations with artists had been good in the past but the two worlds were currently in a "divorce".

The Pope "will invite artists to resume dialogue with the Church," Cardinal Ravasi told a news conference, adding that the November 21 meeting would be the "starting stage".

"We would like for this meet-ing to be followed by a series of concrete achievements," he said.

"The Pope is opening the dialogue, saying the Church needs to have ties with art. The artists should start responding through their work," Cardinal Ravasi said.

The Vatican has invited 500 painters, sculptors, architects, writers, musicians, singers and film and theatre directors to the meeting, said Monsignor Pasquale Iacobone, head of the culture council's art and faith department.

Around 75 artists have agreed to attend the gathering so far, including Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone, US stage director Bob Wilson, Italian film-maker Giuseppe Tornatore and Mexican sculptor Sebastian.

In the last meeting nearly half a century ago, Pope Paul VI issued a mea culpa for the Church's past treatment of artists, telling the group assembled: "We need you."

Pope Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, wrote a letter to artists 10 years ago insisting that the Church "needs art".