Masses, prayer vigils, shows on the days from 28 to 30 June for the patron saints’ day of Rome, promoted by the Vicariates of Rome and the Vatican City, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Rome and with Panathlon International. The presentation press conference will be held on 19 June in the Lateran Palace
Vatican News
A journey into the heart of the Eternal City, a theatrical show, a prayer vigil. The initiatives for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, patron saints of Rome, promoted by the Vicariates of the diocese of Rome and the Vatican City, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Rome and with Panathlon International. In particular, on Friday 28th a prayer vigil will be held in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9 pm; Saturday 29th is instead scheduled “Quo Vadis”, a journey-event that touches on the historical stages of the presence of the two apostles in the City; to finish, June 30th, is expected “Peter and Paul in Rome”a theater show by and with Michele La Ginestra.
Presentation press conference
The initiatives will be presented with a press conference on Wednesday 19 June, at 11.30 am, in the Cardinal Ugo Poletti Hall of the Lateran Apostolic Palace. Speakers will include Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General of His Holiness for the Vatican City; Bishop Baldo Reina, vicegerent of the diocese of Rome; Massimo Osanna, general director of Museums, Ministry of Culture; Gianmarco Mazzi, undersecretary of state, Ministry of Culture; Francesco Sortino, project coordinator “Quo Vadis”; Michele La Ginestra; a representative of the Capitoline administration. Father Giulio Albanese, director of the Vicariate’s Office for Social Communications, will moderate.
The message and testimony of Peter and Paul
“We wish to place the greatest apostolic memories at the center by rediscovering the message and testimony of Peter and Paul through the places preserved by tradition – say Cardinal Gambetti and Bishop Reina – and, above all, recall the vocation of the Christian community in the city of Rome to thresholds of the Jubilee that we are about to celebrate: renew a spirit of welcome in all our pastoral realities in favor of the pilgrims who will arrive; offer a testimony of charity and faith with our bishop Pope Francis”.
The universality of the city
The basic idea is to “restore to Rome the permanence of its patrons, who give a character of universality to this city: here Peter and Paul lived and left traces”, explains Brother Agnello Stoia, parish priest of San Pietro, which thus illustrates the “Quo Vadis – Walking with Peter” project, scheduled for June 29th, with the aim of becoming an annual event. «Quo Vadis Domine? It is the question that Peter, fleeing from Rome, asks Jesus who appears to him on the Appia Antica”, says the religious of the Conventual Friars Minor. “On that same road from which he planned to escape, the Via Appia, the Regina Viarum , Saint Paul arrives in Rome, so that the Gospel of Christ reaches the heart of the world. The human events of Peter and Paul, in Rome, intertwine, cross each other, separate, unite, on the streets of Rome and like the streets of Rome”.
Between the places of the two apostles
An urban walk will touch all the places linked to the two apostles, from San Sebastiano Fuori le Mura to Santa Prisca, from the Mamertine Prison to Santa Maria in Via Lata. There are two routes, one longer and the other shorter, at the end of which you will receive a “stone”, a small stone symbolizing the journey completed. Precisely the cobblestone, evoked in the “Quo Vadis” logo, connects Pietro, Rome and its streets. It is an opportunity offered to citizens, tourists, families, faithful to rediscover or visit for the first time many places – including the Colosseum Archaeological Park, whose visit, exclusively for participants, is free -, churches, treasures of art and history that excite. “Quo Vadis” received the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, CONI and the Appia Antica Regional Park. https://sanpietroquovadis.it/
Again, on Sunday 30th the show in the atrium of St. Peter’s Basilica starting at 9pm, “will bring Peter and Paul back to the streets of Rome in the years in which they were here together”, continues Brother Agnello. “It is a very profound text but also very Roman in culture and jargon, born thanks to the sagacity, fluid writing and inventiveness of an artist of the caliber of Michele La Ginestra who will be on stage as Pietro with Augusto Fornari as Paolo, directed by Roberto Marafante and music by Emanuele Friello”.
