Rome Ecumenism Course 2023

  Santa Maria in Tranpontina My final day in Rome was made extra special as there was an event to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. This is my “Saint Day” or in Italian “Onomastico”. Traditionally in the Italian culture a feast day is commemorated with a special meal and perhaps even a small gift, similar to a birthday. Each calendar day has multiple saints assigned, as the Church has far more than 365 saints. The feast day can be selected based on the death of the saint, when that is unknown a day is selected by the Church, as is the case with St. John Paul. His feast day is observed on October 22, which is the day of his Papal Inauguration, rather than the day of his death, April 2, which can fall during the season of Lent. Alter of Santa Maria in Tranpontina Some saints will have a novena prayed in the nine days leading up to their feast day. This is the case for Our Lady of Mount Carmel. In preparation for the observance petitions are made to the saint asking t...

       During my last week in Rome, I had the honour of entering both a synagogue and a mosque for the first time in my life. After visiting what seemed like a million churches in Rome and, (as a Roman Catholic), loving every one of them, it was a nice way to end off the interreligious dialogue component of our course.     The synagogue is located in the old Jewish ghetto of Rome. It is in this area that Jews were forced to live and had many restrictions put upon them in the past. Our visit included the museum under the synagogue where we saw a copy of the declaration that announced forming the State of Israel. The Great Synagogue of Rome A picture I took of the beautiful square dome inside the Synagogue Declaration of the State of Israel           Our friend and classmate Oded, who was born and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel, drew my attention to an extraordinary black and white photo of crowds of Jews in Rome celebrating this d...

On Tuesday, when I was still feeling spiritually buoyed by my trip to Assisi, our group visited the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. This was not part of the Il Centro Pro Unione’s program but was a special excursion organized by our professor Mike Attridge, who went out of his way, pulling an untold number of strings to organize extra experiential learning occasions for us. I was especially delighted to be able to visit this dicastery because among its responsibilities is the promotion of the care of Creation, integral ecology and the teachings of Laudato Si’ . In terms of the Catholic Church’s embrace of ecological spirituality, thought and action, this dicastery is where the rubber hits the road! While we were there, I had the appearance of polite academic interest on the outside, but inside I felt like a fan girl who had just been invited backstage at a rock concert. In its care of Creation portfolio, this dicastery is focused on turning Catholic Social Teaching ...

Over the past two weeks we have visited three of the sixteen Dicastery Offices. Until coming to Rome I had little understanding of what a Dicastery Office was or what they did. In the past the Offices went by other names such as Pontifical Office or Secretariat, so this may contribute to why they are not in our regular vocabulary. Follow this link to find the Vatican Web page with the sixteen Dicastery Offices listed, with links to their work:  https://www.vatican.va/content/romancuria/en.html These Offices can be viewed as part of the Roman Curia or administrative offices of the Vatican. Staffed largely by priests (although I did see a few names of religious sisters and lay women), they complete the work of the Vatican office, aiding the Pope in his mission, serving both the Pope and the universal church.   The office is led by a prefect, and then supported by a secretary and under-secretary. They put in motion, share information, express opinions on Vatican related matters...

In the 17 th  century it was common for the pope to place a nephew in a key administrative role, for self-preservation.  Thus in 1605, at the age of 28, Scipione Borghese was made cardinal and papal secretary, head of the Roman Curia, by his uncle Pope Paul V, making Scipione the second most powerful person in the country.  Cardinal Scipione purchased a property in the north of Rome and began acquiring ancient Roman and contemporary Italian art.  The villa and its beautiful grounds were never a residence, only ever a gallery and conservatory. Cardinal Scipione became the patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, providing Bernini with the opportunity to cement his legacy as perhaps the best sculptor to have ever lived.  Though several pieces of furniture and adornment were sold off by the Borghese family in the 19 th  century to address fiscal problems, those have been replaced with copies, and the most famous and significant pieces of the original collec...

 Our Lady! So much to learn from! If someone offers you something you have no clue about, do you say yes right away or “no thank you?” Dialogue to me has been, not only talking to the other person; but most importantly, what is my position at that point in time? What’s going on inside of me, am I able to be present in the conversation, am I able to get curious, ask questions, rather than judge, or say no, immediately? The thing about dialogue is it’s relational. It makes it very hard not to judge or look at (or look to) the other person; therefore, it innately possesses a challenge to look internally within oneself. Bishop Farrell and Monsignor Indunil made it clear that we need to know our own identity before we can start a dialogue with the other. Many friends posted about their visits to Assisi. Similarly, this altar where St. Francis of Assisi prayed struck me the most. I felt a sense of peace entering this sanctuary. In the centre of this sanctuary is a sculpture of St...

This past week marked the tenth anniversary since I began studying ecotheology. The first course that I took was the wonderful summer intensive offered by St. Mike’s through the St. Joseph sisters at the lovely Villa St. Joseph in Coburg in July 2013. It seems fitting then that the past few days of our Rome course has offered me many moments ripe with ecotheological reflection, hope and joy. It began when I traveled to Assisi on the weekend after my visit to Siena. After two weeks in Rome, it was soul restoring just to sit on the bus and gaze at the Tuscan and Umbrian countryside going by. The sun kissed rolling hills, olive groves, vineyards and fields of sunflowers all sung to me the glory of God. I found the architecture of the Basilica of St. Francis and its beautiful frescoes by Giotto to be conducive to pray and reflective of this beloved saint devoted to peace and the integrity of creation. For me, the simpler style of the Basilica was a nice change from the flashy splendour of ...

  Saint Catherine of Siena is celebrated in the church as a mystic, spiritual writer, healer, counsellor, and for her service to the poor and the sick. However, it was her work for peace and reconciliation within the church that struck me on Saturday July 8 as I viewed the busts of several popes that were installed under the portico of her house in Siena. It was a bright yet quiet day in Siena. The mood was prayerful. After I completed my visits to the chapel and Catherine’s cell, I saw the figures of the popes. While Catherine’s holiness was recognized by her contemporaries long before the church’s hierarchy took notice of her, the figures of these popes at her house were a sign to me of how much Catherine loved the church and her tireless efforts to bring about unity in a church in which women held no ecclesiastical power. Thus, she worked from a place of marginality in her time.  Below the portico of Catherine’s house, we can observe the figures of Pope Pius II, who canoniz...

This past weekend I took a quick trip to visit my family in Sicily. They think I am going to see them but really, it’s the almond cookies (paste secche) and granita with brioche that call me back.  My nonna passed away a few years ago and I have not had the opportunity to visit her grave. Although it may seem morose, sharing some information on Italian cemeteries might be interesting, as the practices have many similarities due to shared Catholic faith, yet there are noteworthy differences due to cultural practices.   The local cemetery where my grandparents are buried is mostly cement. There is little grass beyond weeds breaking through the cracks. The first stop is to purchase fresh flowers, I picked out a few simple roses for my grandparents. As we walked to the burial site my aunt explained how there is limited space, and the government allows for the in-ground burial sites to be modified and expanded over time.  The mausoleums here are all in the open. Because of the...

It was Sunday July 2. I was at St. Peter’s square with the hundreds of pilgrims who had come to listen to Pope Francis’ Angelus preaching. It was a scene that I had viewed many times on television and in photographs. How blessed I felt to be a part of it all that day! The excitement of the crowd grew when the papal window was thrown open and the red banner was let down. It was soon followed by a loud roar of joy and applause when the Holy Father appeared. The mood was celebratory but prayerful as we listened to the Holy Father speak about the importance of being prophetic in our time. He said, “ A prophet is the one who, by virtue of Baptism, helps others read the present under the action of the Holy Spirit. This is very important: to read the present not like news but under the action of the Holy Spirit, who helps to understand God’s plans and conform to them.” According to Pope Francis, the role of the prophet is to “show Jesus to others.”  The Holy Father urged us to pray for Uk...

We are doing a lot of walking on this trip. Sometimes over 20,000 steps in a day! And we are doing some serious walking together as a church this year as we prepare for the Synod on Synodality in October. Pope Francis has highlighted "walking together on the way" as the central metaphor for the church.  Indeed, he said, "if we are not synodal, we are not church." I love walking with a friend. Conversations are different. It's okay to drop the conversation for a while and then pick up again. There is time to ponder what the other person says and then come back after and time without anyone feeling awkward.  That is how conversations go when one is walking.  I also enjoy walking alone (today while eating lavender and white peach gelato). I can allow my mind to wander and sometimes come up with surprising insights.  Sometimes it comes up with nothing at all and just takes a rest and enjoys the sights.  As I spend time as a doctoral student thinking about the proble...