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| Matthew Bunson |
The amount of restoration going on in the square has gained considerable steam, and the piazza is dominated now by scaffolding that covers parts of the great architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s magnificent colonnade – the one that he described as intending to represent the Church’s arms outstretched to embrace the entire world.
(For a little background to the restoration, take a look at L’Osservatore Romano’s story on the restoration project.)
When restored, the colonnade will resemble the piazza as it did in the 1600s when Bernini had just finished it. It reminds me of the generous gift of the Knights of Columbus in the late 1990s when they funded the restoration of Carlo Maderno’s façade of the basilica. When it was done, the visitors were amazed to see the vibrant colors of the columns. Expect something similar with the colonnade that is part of the iconic picture from the dome of the basilica.
(Talking about Bernini, the upcoming January/February issue of The Catholic Answer Magazine has an article on arguably his second greatest sculpture piece (art historians consider the Ecstasy of St. Teresa of Ávila to be his foremost piece of sculpture): the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica with its sumptuous window of the Holy Spirit that bathes much of the church in a heavenly golden glow. There will be more on Bernini in the coming days.)
But back to the Piazza San Pietro. With the Synod of Bishops in full swing, there is a constant hub of activity around the left hand side of the square and the synod hall. I will be spending time in the hall for the next days, but the sheer number of priests, nuns, monsignori, bishops, and cardinals moving in and out is a reminder of the events unfolding there to focus on the New Evangelization.
They are joined, however, by unusually large crowds of tourists and pilgrims as the Holy See gears up for the canonizations on Sunday of seven new saints. The Germans seem to have a head start as hundreds of German high school kids were everywhere in the square, part of the celebration honoring Anna Schäfer, a victim soul who died in 1925 and the declaration of St. Hildegard of Bingen as a Doctor of the Church
The crowds, though, are the first things you see when you enter the Via della Conciliazione, the stretch of road leading from the Vatican to the Tiber. Not that the basilica has become less magnificent, as that would scarcely be possible. Rather, the sheer scale of the church is slightly offset by the dominating image of the thousands from around the world who have come to visit.
They arrive from everywhere, and I heard Italian, English, Japanese, Mandarin, Filipino, German, French, several African dialects, and Spanish -- and that was during one walk across the square. I was reminded of Henry James’ comment in 'Transatlantic Sketches' (1873): “As a mere promenade, St. Peter's is unequaled. It is better than the Boulevards, than Picadilly or Broadway, and if it were not the most beautiful place in the world, it would be the most entertaining.”
Some came obviously because it is part of their tour or they just want to see the greatest church in the world.
Thousands more, however, were there for a deeper reason. They came to the place of St. Peter as humble pilgrims. They came to pray before the tomb of Bl. John Paul II. To pray at the burial place of Peter himself. And I had the immense privilege of counting myself among their number.
They arrive from everywhere, and I heard Italian, English, Japanese, Mandarin, Filipino, German, French, several African dialects, and Spanish -- and that was during one walk across the square. I was reminded of Henry James’ comment in 'Transatlantic Sketches' (1873): “As a mere promenade, St. Peter's is unequaled. It is better than the Boulevards, than Picadilly or Broadway, and if it were not the most beautiful place in the world, it would be the most entertaining.”
Some came obviously because it is part of their tour or they just want to see the greatest church in the world.
Thousands more, however, were there for a deeper reason. They came to the place of St. Peter as humble pilgrims. They came to pray before the tomb of Bl. John Paul II. To pray at the burial place of Peter himself. And I had the immense privilege of counting myself among their number.
Matthew Bunson is editor of Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Almanac and The Catholic Answer magazine. He is a well-known and media-savvy scholar, a prolific author, and a familiar voice for the Diocese of Ft. Wayne-South Bend's Redeemer Radio. Dr. Bunson is in Rome covering the Synod and the canonization of Kateri Tekakwitha. His new book, co-authored with his late mother, Margaret, is Saint Kateri: Lily of the Mohawks (OSV).
