Pope Francis with the volunteers helping vaccinate people in need at the Vatican April 2, 2021. / Credit: Holy See Press Office.
Vatican City, Apr 2, 2021 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis on the morning of Good Friday visited the auditorium where the Vatican is vaccinating 1,200 people in need this week.
The Holy See Press Office said the pope went to the Pope Paul VI Hall shortly before 10:00 a.m. April 2 to greet the people waiting to receive their first dose of the vaccine against COVID-19.
Francis also spoke to the doctors and nurses who have volunteered their time to administer the vaccine.
The press office said as of April 2, around 800 people have received the first dose.
Among those were a group of over 100 residents of a homeless shelter run by the Missionaries of Charity, and residents of other shelters in the city.
Volunteers from the Community of Sant’Egidio, Caritas of Rome, and other Catholic charitable associations have accompanied those receiving the vaccine, who were also greeted by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.
Krajewski himself recovered from COVID-19 after being hospitalized for 10 days in December.
The almoner has set up a webpage where people can sponsor the vaccination of a person in need through an online donation to the Office of Papal Charities.
The Pope Paul VI Hall was where Pope Francis and Vatican employees were vaccinated beginning earlier this year.
Providing vaccinations for Rome’s poor and homeless is the Vatican’s latest effort to respond to Pope Francis’ appeals to ensure equitable distribution of the vaccine against COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Photos of Pope Francis credit Holy See Press Office. Photo of Cardinal Konrad Krajewski credit Vatican Media.
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Illustation of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, before the fire that destroyed it in 1823. / Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018
Rome, Italy, Jul 14, 2023 / 03:00 am (CNA).
As the bicentennial anniversary of the devastating fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome draws near, the profound significance of the July 15, 1823, event is recalled among those who love the basilica. The tragic incident left an indelible mark on the architectural landscape and the hearts of believers.
Illustration of the destruction of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome in 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018
To commemorate this solemn anniversary, a series of events are planned in collaboration with various embassies, universities, and choirs.
On July 11, the Benedictine friars residing in the monastery at the basilica offered a special vespers service open to the public. Additionally, a community event organized by the nearby university Roma Tre will take place in Rome’s Ostiense neighborhood on July 14 and 15 in the Parco Schuster, a small neighborhood park in the shadow of the iconic basilica. The gathering aims to honor the memory of the great fire and pay tribute to the enduring spirit of the basilica. It provides an opportunity for Catholics, architectural enthusiasts, and community members to come together and reflect on the profound impact of the fire and the subsequent reconstruction efforts, complete with 3D imaging technology developed to show what the basilica used to look like.
Cardinal James Michael Harvey, the appointed archpriest of St. Paul Outside the Walls, expressed the importance of commemorating the tragic event, stating: “We want the future to know that the memory of this event was taken seriously during its 200-year anniversary.”
Harvey also noted that the basilica is organizing an assembly of 19th-century scholars, experts, and historians to visit the basilica and discuss the significance of the tragedy sometime in November. The announcement of this event is still pending.
To gain deeper insights into the fire and its aftermath, Nicola Camerlenghi, assistant professor of Art History at Dartmouth College and a renowned expert in architectural history, shared his expertise during an interview with CNA. According to Camerlenghi, “The fire at St. Paul’s Basilica was a great tragedy. What was lost was the last imperial basilica built in Rome and one of the few monumental buildings from early Christian times that had survived relatively untouched by subsequent alterations.”
Color illustration of historic fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in Professor Nicola Camerlenghi’s book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018
Reflecting on the decisions made during the meticulous reconstruction process, Camerlenghi emphasized the faithful restoration of the basilica. The architects and artisans recreated its original state while adapting to the loss of certain materials and using materials that are more fireproof. As a result of Camerlenghi’s research, 19th-century French writer Stendhal’s journal entry from his time in Rome surfaced, providing a glimpse into Rome after the fire. Stendhal wrote: “I found in it a severe beauty and an impression of calamity such as only the music of Mozart can suggest. The terrible painful traces of the misfortune were still alive… Thus perished the most ancient basilica not only of Rome, but of all Christianity. It had lasted 15 centuries.”
The fire was ruled an accident, caused by a distracted welder named Giacomo who unknowingly left a pan of coals burning on the roof. Despite initial suspicions of arson, conspiracy theories involving revolutionary movements and even the prominent Rothschild family failed to gain traction.
Lithograph image of fire at St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, 1823, depicted in “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” by Professor Nicola Camerlenghi, 2018. Photo courtesy of Professor Nicola Camerlenghi from his book “St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, A Roman Basilica, from Antiquity to the Modern Era,” 2018
The reconstruction of St. Paul Outside the Walls proved to be a formidable undertaking amid the political and cultural turmoil of Rome at the time. To honor the basilica’s historical significance, Pope Leo XII decided to restore it to its former glory, without the architectural modifications and additions that had accumulated over the centuries.
At the bicentennial anniversary of this devastating fire, one is reminded of the enduring faith and unwavering spirit that define St. Paul Outside the Walls and even St. Paul himself. As Camerlenghi noted: “In turn, the reconstruction that ensued was a testament to the importance of the figure of St. Paul to the Catholic Church and indeed to the Christian community at large. No figure has been quite as ecumenical as Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles.”
Vatican City, Oct 10, 2018 / 04:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his general audience Wednesday, Pope Francis said that abortion “suppresses innocent and helpless life in its blossoming.”
“Is it right to take a human life to solve a problem? It’s like hiring a hitman,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 10, in a departure from his prepared remarks.
“Violence and the rejection of life are born from fear,” the pope added.
For this reason, parents who learn that their unborn child will have a disability need “real closeness, true solidarity to face reality; overcoming understandable fears,” he explained.
Pope Francis lamented that parents receiving a difficult prenatal diagnosis often “receive hasty advice to stop the pregnancy.”
It is contradictory to suppress “human life in the womb in the name of safeguarding other rights,” the pope insisted.
“How can an act that suppresses innocent and helpless life in its blossoming be therapeutic, civil, or simply human?”
The pope’s remarks on abortion came during a reflection on the fifth commandment, “Thou shall not kill.” In recent weeks, the pope has dedicated his weekly general audiences to a series of lesson and reflections on the Ten Commandments recorded in the scriptural books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.
“One could say that all the evil done in the world is summarized in this: contempt for life,” Pope Francis told the pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
“What leads man to reject life? They are the idols of this world: money, power, success. These are incorrect parameters to evaluate life. The only authentic measure of life is love, the love with which God loves it!”
The positive meaning of the fifth commandment is that “God is a lover of life,” he continued.
“In every sick child, in every weak old man, in every desperate migrant, in every fragile and threatened life, Christ is looking for us, he is looking for our heart, to disclose the joy of love. It is worthwhile to accept every life because every man is worth the blood of Christ. We can not despise what God so loved!” Pope Francis said.
While a sick child or an elderly person who needs assistance can be viewed as a burden, this can actually be “a gift from God,” explained the pope. This vulnerable life can “pull me out of self-centeredness and make me grow in love.”
The Office of Papal Charities is offering doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, purchased by the Holy See, to around 1,200 of “the poorest and most marginalized people” during Holy Week.
Volunteers from the Community of Sant’Egidio, Caritas of Rome, and other Catholic charitable associations have accompanied those receiving the vaccine, who were also greeted by the papal almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.
The Pope Paul VI Hall was where Pope Francis and Vatican employees were vaccinated beginning earlier this year.
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