BALDACCHINO IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA TO BE RESTORED

What an amazing story!  It will be fascinating to follow the work done on the baldacchino this year!  I never go into the basilica without simply walking around the Altar of the Confessio, built above the confessio and the tomb of the first Pope, St. Peter.

Also known as the Papal Altar, Pope Francis has not said Mass here since the start of his mobility issues in 2022.

In the chapter titled Glossary of Terms in my 2016 book, A Holy Year in Rome, I explain the term baldachin, noting it is related to the word ciborium (plural, ciboria):

Today the word ciborium refers to a vessel, usually metal, in which consecrated hosts, particles of the Blessed Sacrament, or Sacred Species are kept for distribution at communion time. The word comes from the Greek kiborion and originally referred to a canopy of wood, stone, or marble, resting on four or more pillars that covered an altar. Today it is more customary to use the western term baldacchino in describing such a canopy or altar covering. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the word baldachin “comes from baldacco, meaning Baghdad, because many rich fabrics from that city were used in the adornment of these canopies which, in the Middle Ages, were often suspended from the ceiling, or projected from the wall to cover an altar, or an episcopal throne.” In time, ciboria or baldachins were mandatory over main alters, or where the Blessed Sacrament was housed. This was discontinued under Pope Paul VI.

BALDACCHINO IN ST. PETER’S BASILICA TO BE RESTORED

Ahead of the Jubilee year 2025, the Knights of Columbus are supporting a ten-month restoration of the baldacchino over the high altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica.

By Christopher Wells (Vatican news)

Pope Francis has authorized the first “systematic and complete” restoration of the baldacchino of St Peter’s Basilica, almost 400 years after work began on Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s baroque masterpiece.

The “challenging and necessary” restoration has “significant symbolic value,” the archpriest of the basilica, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti said at a press conference introducing the work, because the baldacchino “marks with its magnificence the place of the Tomb of the Apostle Peter” under the high Altar.

A commitment to charity and unity

The restoration of the “instantly recognizable and impressive” baldacchino is being supported by the Knights of Columbus, a global Catholic fraternal order founded by Blessed Fr Michael McGivney in 1882.

Also present at the press conference, Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly said the restoration of the “singular masterpiece of sacred art” corresponds with the Knights’ “mission and history of service to the Church and especially the Successors of St Peter.”

“Our commitment to this restoration reflects our enduring pledge to our key principles of charity and unity,” he said, adding, “In fact, few works of art express this unity more clearly and immediately.”

Looking ahead to the Jubilee

For his part, Cardinal Gambetti noted that the restoration is motivated by “a careful and dutiful concern for conservation,” and is expected to be completed in December 2024 in time for the opening of the Jubilee Year.

The Cardinal explained that the restoration of the baldacchino “is characterized as particularly complex and articulated due to the importance of the documentation, of logistics, archival research, scientific investigations, the setup of scaffolding, the organization of the construction site in conjunction with the activities and the liturgical life of the basilica, and, of course, the importance of various interventions aimed at conservation.”

He added that papal liturgies will continue to take place during the restoration, with various Vatican offices collaborating to find the “most appropriate solutions for the regular conduct of the celebrations,” especially during Holy Week and Easter.

Plan of restoration

The restoration of the baldacchino will be undertaken in three phases, beginning with provisional work and planning and continuing with preliminary and onsite diagnostics and documentation.

In the third phase, the work of restoration will focus on restoring the metal (bronze and iron) surfaces, the stone surfaces, and the wooden structures of the baldacchino.

The project, expected to cost some 700,000 euros (approximately 768,000 USD), is being funded entirely by Knights of Columbus, Cardinal Gambetti said, “in a spirit of service to the Church and the Pope.”

More than just a historical and architectural renewal, Supreme Knight Kelly added, “it is a renewal of the Knights’ profession of faith and support of the Holy Father.”

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT….

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT….

THE FEAST OF ST. BLAISE

Have you had your throat blessed today?

THE SURF ‘n TURF SUPER BOWL BET

It looks like Bishop James Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph Missouri will soon be dining royally on Dungeness crabs thanks to Arcbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco. The two bishops made a bet before the Super Bowl. If the San Francisco 49ers lost the championship game, the Fisherman’s Wharf treat would go to Missouri. Had the Chiefs lost, Bishop Johnston would have sent steaks from the Kansas City Steak Company to San Francisco. Buon appetito, Bishop Johnston!

ST PETER’S DOME TO UNDERGO CLEANING

I took this photo last Friday from, the steps of the Governorate building in Vatican City. You can only see a bit of the scaffolding on the left side (would be to your right if you are in St. Peter’s Square). I do not yet know if they will cover only part of the dome at a time or if soon we will see the while dome encased in scaffolding. The smaller domes have all been cleaned and they were entirely covered in scaffolding. Both the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s and the Vatican’s technical services will be behind the cleaning and, where needed, restoration of the dome. I believe only the drum part of the dome (the part you see with windows and columns) will be in scaffolding for this work but will try to get details. (have tried but cannot enlarge photo)

I did not know this about the dome: (Designed by Michelangelo, who died before its completion,), Giacomo della Porta and Domenico Fontana brought the dome to completion in 1590, the last year of the reign of Sixtus V. His successor, Gregory XIV, saw Fontana complete the lantern and had an inscription to the honour of Sixtus V placed around its inner opening. The next pope, Clement VIII, had the cross raised into place, an event which took all day, and was accompanied by the ringing of the bells of all the city’s churches. In the arms of the cross are set two lead caskets, one containing a fragment of the True Cross and a relic of St. Andrew and the other containing medallions of the Holy Lamb. In the mid-18th century, cracks appeared in the dome, so four iron chains were installed between the two shells to bind it, like the rings that keep a barrel from bursting. As many as ten chains have been installed at various times, the earliest possibly planned by Michelangelo himself as a precaution, as Brunelleschi did at Florence Cathedral. (wikipedia)

“WHEN THE NEXT ASTEROID STRIKES”

Most of what was a grassy area filled with flower beds in the center of Rome’s Piazza Venezia is now filled with earth movers and other large equipment as the city continues work on the third metro line (metropolitana is Italian for subway). Linea C work started in 2007, although most Romans feel it has been going on since Romulus and Remus and the Caesars! As we rounded Pza. Venezia yesterday, I asked a taxi driver when he thought the subway might finally be finished. His answer: “when the next asteroid strikes the earth!”

POPE FRANCIS’ NEW PERSONAL SECRETARY

The Pope and Fr. Gonzalo Aemilius met in 2006 when then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, made contact with him because he had heard of his work with street kids. Gonzalo Aemilius, a Doctor of Theology, replaces Father Fabian Pedacchio, the Argentine priest who worked alongside the Pope from 2013 to 2019, and who returned last December to his post at the Congregation of Bishops. Father Aemilius was born in Montevideo on September 18, 1979 and was ordained a priest on 6 May 2006.

His face may be familiar to many because he is the priest whom the Pope greeted and summoned as part of the crowd gathered outside a Vatican Gate to welcome Pope Francis at the beginning of his pontificate on the morning of March 7, 2013 when he said Mass in the Vatican’s St. Anne’s church. After Mass, Pope Francis introduced Father Aemilius to all those present, asking them to pray for him and for his work with street children. Interviewed by L’Osservatore Romano, Fr. Aemilius said Bergoglio’s ability to integrate different values and channel them in a single direction had struck him deeply: “Experiencing this ability of his was decisive in my life. He taught me to take the best that is in each individual, however different he or she may be from others, and to put it to good use for the good of all.” Fr. Aemilius will accompany Francis’ current personal secretary, Fr. Yoannis Lahzi Gaid. (source: Vatican news)