Pope to celebrate Corpus Christi
in Rome neighborhood
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| Rome's Santa Maria Consolatrice Parish, where Pope Francis celebrates Corpus Christi |
Pope Francis is set to celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi
in Rome’s Casal Bertone neighborhood on Sunday evening with Mass and a
Eucharistic procession.
By Vatican News
The Holy Father presides at the Eucharistic celebration in
the churchyard of the parish of Santa Maria Consolatrice at 6:00 pm.
Following Mass, there is to be a procession with the Blessed
Sacrament through the streets of Rome’s Casal Bertone neighborhood, which will
be led by Cardinal Vicar Angelo De Donatis and will end at the football field
adjacent Casa Serena, a reception facility for the homeless of the Missionaries
of Charity. The length of the procession is 1.2 km or about ¾ of a mile.
Members of the parish will sing during the Mass and serve at
the altar. The readers of the Prayer of the Faithful and the extraordinary
ministers of Holy Communion come from seven neighboring parishes: St Barnabas,
St Helen, St Julia Billiart, St Joseph Cafasso, St Leo I, St Luke the
Evangelist, and Saints Marcelino and Peter.
New tradition
Last June, Pope Francis celebrated the Feast of Corpus
Christi in Ostia. That was the first time Pope Francis departed from the
tradition of celebrating the feast on Thursday, which is the day on which it is
celebrated in the Vatican.
Generally, he and previous popes would celebrate the liturgy
on Thursday evening at St John Lateran, and the procession would proceed down
the Via Merulana to the Basilica of St Mary Major.
On the peripheries
This year, Pope Francis chose this parish on the periphery
of Italy’s capital city of Rome. Father Giuseppe Midili who heads the Diocese’s
Liturgical Office said, “The Eucharist celebrated in the midst of the people –
in the town square, a place that gathers people together, where people
habitually see each other – highlights how participation at Mass promotes
communion with God and among ourselves.”
An auxiliary Bishop of Rome, Jesuit Daniele Libanori, said,
“The Pope chose to go to the periphery because that is where the sufferings the
people live are to be found—real life. It is a sign of his concern for those
living in Rome, a way of showing he is near….”
To get to where they work in the city every day is
complicated, Bishop Libanori added. “The historic center is very beautiful,
filled with offices and practically besieged with tourists. Not many Romans
actually live there, the majority live areas on the periphery”.
75th anniversary
Another priest, Father Lani, said “the parishioners are
looking forward to” the Pope’s visit. The celebration of this Mass, he said,
will inaugurate the festivities surrounding the 75th anniversary of the parish.
Pope Francis is the fourth Pope who has visited the parish,
following his predecessors Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI. From 1977
to 1993, Pope Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was the Titular Cardinal
of this parish.
Preparations
Catechists have been preparing the children for this feast
through a type of Summer Camp that began on 10 June.
It consisted of periods of reflection and games that helped
the children unpack various Gospel episodes such as the multiplication of the
bread, the wedding at Cana, the disciples of Emmaus, and the feast of Corpus
Domini itself.
The parish held a day-long period of perpetual adoration on
Thursday to prepare spiritually for Pope Francis’ visit.
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