Highlights from the cultural world of Rome
Der Held des Campo Santo Teutonico, der irische Priester Hugh O'Flaherty, der tausenden verfolgter Menschen unter der nationalsozialistischen Besatzung in Rom zur Flucht verhalf, war im Vatikan keineswegs unbekannt.
On the initiative of Prof Carla Salvetti from the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology (but institutionally independent of it), a community was formed last year under the name ‘Post Scriptum’, which offers cultural events in Rome. The programme includes, for example, photo tours, visits to historical sites and lectures. The focus is on excursions to get to know archaeological, historical and artistic Rome better. You can become a member of the association.
The Lateran University is offering a course on Jubilee Years from 15 October to 13 November 2024. The 10-lesson course will be held by Luigi de Palma (coordinator), Nicola Gadaleta (secretary), Angelo Lameri and Filippo Lovison, among others. Registration until 2 October.
It is well known that Pope Pius XII had his Secretary of State Luigi Maglione set up a special office - the ‘Ufficio della I Sezione per gli Ebrei’ - to process the petitions of persecuted Jews or persecuted Jews who had converted to the Catholic faith. These files can be viewed in full online in 170 folders. Each folder begins with a list of the persons dealt with in the file in question.
The Libreria La Leoniana near St Peter's Square has the book ‘Altar and Church: Principles of Liturgy from Early Christianity’ in its display. The new manager offers discounts to Görres members and also specifically advertises her customers' books. She also draws attention to out-of-the-way publications, such as the mosaic book by Veronika Seifert.
A marvellous photograph of Paul Maria Baumgarten has been preserved, showing him in the vestments of Pius IX. It was first published in the Römische Quartalschrift by Isa-Maria Betz (RQ 2013, 236). Baumgarten's notes now reveal what this was all about.
For centuries, the Madonna Santissima di Belriguardo was venerated in the church of the Archconfraternity Santa Maria della Pietà on Campo Santo Teutonico: Our Lady with the beautiful gaze. An altar was erected to her in a separate chapel. The Piedmontese, who venerated this Madonna, took care of the image's decoration for a long time.
At the beginning of 1881, the archive room set up by Cardinal Joseph Hergenröther was opened to the scholarly public. It is located in the wing of the building by the Torre dei Venti on the side of the Vatican Gardens. The sloping terrain of the Vatican Hill from the gardens to the east gives the room its special ambience.
Some popes are at war with animals and consider pets to be a sign of decadence, while they welcome animals on their plates. Leo XIII still hunted birds in the Vatican gardens - for lunch. St Francis called all living creatures his sisters and brothers. In more recent times, Benedict XVI, who famously had a pet cat, followed in this tradition of loving animals.
Every year, the Foundation Meeting Centre Archdiocese of Munich and Freising organises a May devotion accompanied by music and followed by a snack in the garden of the Archdiocese's Casa Santa Maria in Viale delle Medaglie d'Oro in Rome.
Römisches Institut der Görres-Gesellschaft
