Pope Francis to Celebrate Sunday Mass at Parish in Rome (Give 1st Communion to Children)

Zenit ^ | May 23, 2013

[NYer]

On Sunday, May 26th, solemnity of the Holy Trinity, Pope Francis will visit the Parish of Saints Elizabeth and Zechariah in Rome where he will preside over the morning Mass.

During the celebration, the Holy Father will give First Eucharist to 16 children and will distribute Communion to 28 others.

“For May 26th, we had planned for the First Communion on third Sunday [of the month] but given the extraordinary circumstances of the event, we thought it would be good for the children who received Communion last year to participate in this feast with our Bishop. That way all plus 44 more will be dressed in white and will receive the Body of Christ from the Pope,” explained Fr. Benoni Ambarus, pastor of the parish.

The Mass, which will take place in the Square in front of the Church, will be concelebrated by Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of Rome, Bishop Guerino Di Tora, auxiliary bishop of the Northern sector, Fr. Ambarus, and Fr. Giovanni Franco, the parochial vicar.

The Holy Father is expected to greet the faithful in several areas surrounding the parish, as well as the sick, the disabled and the elderly. “They will all have the opportunity to participate in the Mass and be greeted by the Holy Father at the end of the celebration,” Fr. Ambarus said.

[NYer]

Santi Elisabetta e Zaccaria is a modern parish church at Via di Valle Muricana 405, in the suburb of Valle Muricana, west of the Via Flaminia and north of the Circonvallazione Settentrionale.

It was designed by Giuliano Panieri, and opened in 2009. It is a large, high-quality building of 500 square metres, based on a plan of an equilateral triangle with the point behind the altar truncated.

The exterior walls are entirely in red brick, and the roof is flat.

The monumental façade, one side of the triangle, is rather jagged since it has a pair of triangular bastions in blank brickwork flanking the entrance and running from ground to roofline. The entrance doors themselves comprise a work of art, having a motif of converging jagged shards in bronze on an orange background. There is a stained glass window shaped like a Latin cross above the entrance. Either

[NYer]

This community is outside Rome proper, in a newly developed area.

[Mercat]

I don’t like the style but can understand that some people do. The little bushes however are jarring.

[NYer]

Over the span of 20 years, I traveled to Italy on a regular basis. This church is in an area outside Rome proper, all of which was constructed on a plain, post WWII. In a country filled with antiquity, it’s jarring to see such modern housing. Like you, such contemporary design is not to my personal taste. It’s somewhat ‘stark and cold’ as compared with the magnificent and even simple, older churches one finds throughout Italy. The church serves a local community and is not in the tourist section. Actually, I am surprised they still consider this area to be part of Rome.

[Biggirl]

Looks like a parish church building one would fine in the USA.

[Biggirl]

My parish church there will be older children, via the RCIC making their first holy communion on Corpus Christi Sunday.

[Tax-chick]

I don’t like it much - it looks off-putting, like a public school. “These doors aren’t open to you.” However, it might seem nicer if people were around.

I was wondering why they’d put words all over the facade, then realized it was the owner of the picture’s mark!

[verga]

During the celebration, the Holy Father will give First Eucharist to 16 children and will distribute Communion to 28 others.

I think it is wonderful that this Pope is getting out among the people, and acting as a pastor to all ages, regardless of what we may think of the structure.