A Vatican video game? New Minecraft edition has students restore St. Peter’s Basilica

 

Vatican City, Mar 19, 2025 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

Minecraft, the popular video game known for its blocky, pixelated graphics, has launched a new educational edition that challenges students to explore and restore St. Peter’s Basilica.

Michelangelo’s dome, Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s colonnade, and the ancient tomb of the Apostle Peter have been recreated within Minecraft’s iconic digital world of 3D cubes and retro gaming aesthetic.

Microsoft and the Vatican unveiled the game, “Peter Is Here: AI for Cultural Heritage,” at a press event in Rome on March 18. The project is the latest step in their collaboration on an AI-enhanced experience of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, placed the educational video game under the patronage of St. Joseph, who was “the educator par excellence of the child of God.”

“Those who play with St. Peter’s Basilica in Minecraft Education have the opportunity to try their hand at creative architectural interventions, to discover the history of the basilica, to restore it, and to enter into the hidden meanings that it holds,” the cardinal said.

Restoring the Vatican, one block at a time

Designed for students aged 8–18, the game allows players to take on roles of skilled craftsmen and restoration workers responsible for maintaining St. Peter’s Basilica. By completing restoration tasks, they earn golden papal key tokens while learning about the basilica’s history, art, and architecture.

Eleven-year-old Michael Sterpi was one of the lucky students selected to test out the game.

“I play Minecraft on Xbox and PC at home,” Sterpi told CNA. “This game is like really, really, cool. With each block, they made the whole Vatican!”

Sterpi, who has been studying the life of Blessed Carlo Acutis in school, said he thinks that Carlo “would love this game.”

Yet, the student from Rome’s Jesuit-run Massimiliano Massimo Institute was quick to point out that nothing can replace seeing St. Peter’s Basilica in person.

“The real thing is much better, obviously,” he said.

Minecraft as an educational tool?

The new Vatican edition is part of Microsoft’s larger effort to bring cultural and religious history to life through digital learning in Minecraft Education.

“Introducing complex topics to students in an immersive 3D virtual world makes challenging concepts easier to understand,” Allison Matthews, head of Minecraft Education at Microsoft, said at the game’s Rome premiere.

“We’ve created a lot of classroom-ready resources that educators can download to make it very easy,” she added.

Minecraft Education also features other religious and cultural sites, such as Syria’s Monastery of St. Elian — an ancient Christian church destroyed by the Islamic State — available in the UNESCO’s History Blocks edition of the game. A different edition lets students explore the monuments of ancient Rome.

The game’s launch comes at a time when video games are often viewed with skepticism, especially in educational settings.

Mauro Antonelli, the head of Italy’s technical secretariat for the Ministry of Education and Merit, acknowledged a need to “counter gaming addiction” among young people today but called the initiative an example of how technology can serve educational purposes.

“It is really a paradigm shift — gaming is often seen with a negative connotation,” he said.

The Vatican’s involvement reflects a growing interest in artificial intelligence, social media, and digital tools that engage younger generations.

In April, the Catholic Church is expected to canonize Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old who loved video games, as the first computer-coding saint during a worldwide gathering of teenagers at the Vatican.

Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato, the director of communications for St. Peter’s Basilica, also suggested that the Minecraft game could become the official game of the Vatican’s next World Children’s Day event in September 2026.

Microsoft has been working with the Vatican on digital preservation projects through its AI for Good Lab. This latest venture builds on previous efforts to create an AI-enhanced digital twin of St. Peter’s Basilica, using advanced photogrammetry techniques to map its intricate details.

“This partnership with St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican is one of Microsoft’s most cherished,” Matthews said. “We are honored to be able to use the power of AI to help preserve St. Peter’s Basilica and make it more accessible to people all around the world.”

How to play Minecraft Vatican edition?

“Peter Is Here” is available in the Minecraft Education lesson library for all licensed users. A trial version can be downloaded for free by logging in with an Office 365 or Microsoft 365 Education account.

The game offers two distinct modes. In “Restoration Mode,” players work on key sections of the basilica, including restoring the Vatican Obelisk, exploring St. Peter’s Tomb, reinforcing the colonnade, and repairing Bernini’s baldacchino.

After completing restoration tasks, players can switch to “Exploration Mode,” where they navigate the basilica, interact with historical figures, and uncover the history of its art and architecture.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s vice chair and president, called the launch “a big step forward” in making the Vatican’s cultural and religious heritage more accessible to young people everywhere.

“This is the way we take this wonderful institution — the culture, the religion, the heritage — and then put it into the hands of children in every country around the world,” he said. “What could be more special than that?”

Archbishop Carlo Maria Polvani, the undersecretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, said he hopes that millions of young people will use the game to discover one of the world’s greatest heritage sites, especially during the jubilee year.