Hildegard of Bingen was one of the most extraordinary women of the medieval period, or indeed of any age. She was an Abbess and polymath who excelled in music, medicine and poetry. She was a playwright and a mystic and founded two monasteries. In 2012 she was declared a Doctor of the Church and her work 'perennially relevant' by Pope Benedict XVI. This text written by Cardinal Angelo Amato gives a wonderful insight into her importance for the Church and the world.