See preceding page for earlier posts on 12/10/11.
Bishop of Rome makes 12th
pastoral visit tomorrow
Translated from
December 10, 2011
The parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie in the Casal Boccone district in northwest Rome eagerly awaits the pastoral visit of Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow, the third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday.
He will be welcomed on his arrival at 9:15 a.m. initially by the children of the parish gathered in the courtyard of the new parish church which now serves as their daily playground and center of recreational activities.
The Pope will celebrate Mass at 9:30, along with the parish priest, don Federico Monteforte, 58, and the 12 other parish priests in the prefecture, assisted by 15 ministrants.
After the Mass, the Pope will meet the parochial pastoral council, who, said Fr. Monteforte, "will tell the Pope that the parish residents dearest wish is to be good Christians".
But he said that "Our most intimate and truest meeting with the Holy Father will be around the Eucharist, and so we have paid special attention to the music during the Mass - to be sung by our 20-member choir - and the participation of elementary schoolchildren."
He said that the parish will be celebrating both the Pope's visit and their new church, finished in May last year, and one they had awaited for 36 years. Before that, they had been using the ground floor of a commercial building in the area since the parish was established in 1974. It was originally named for St. Dominic, but after the new church was completed, it was renamed Santa Maria delle Grazie.
He said that the parish has not suffered much from the current economic downturn - "most of our residents are artisans and employees" - but its charitable activities have been directed at immigrants and Rom (gypsies) in neighboring areas.
According to Marina Agnusdei, a 77-year-old retired barkeeper who works with the parochial Caritas, "There are few in the parish who need our help, but we help many Poles and Rumanians who live around the area. Our hospitality center is open every day and we are able to give out food packs and clothing."
She welcomed the Pope's visit for the encouragement and comfort it will give them.
The parish now counts with a charismatic community (Rinnovamento dello Spirito), and in January, the Neo-Catechumenals are starting their community.
The new meeting hall of the parish accommodates 150 persons, but they still need a multi-functional recreational area and sports field for the young people. Fr. Monteforte says the plans are ready for implementation as soon as the bureaucratic requirements are met.
The Holy Father will return to the Vatican in time for the noontime Angelus.
Benedict XVI has understandably focused his pastoral visits in Rome on fairly new parishes located in working class neighborhoods, usually in the periphery of Rome. And this has meant that most of the fairly new parish churches he has visited have been built in an indifferent almost-industrial utilitarian style, and at least a couple are ultra-modern architectural showpieces... I don't know what the Vatican's new campaign against 'bad' church architecture will accomplish in this respect. Rome has perhaps the largest number of new churches per capita anywhere in the world.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/12/2011 06:34]