Highlights from the cultural world of Rome
The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology is organising the 7th Open Catacombs Day in Rome and throughout Italy. In addition to guided tours, the programme also includes events for children.
The ceremonial opening of the 2024/25 academic year of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology will take place in this year at Campo Santo Teutonico inside the Vatican.
As part of the Ratzinger Student Circle, Stefan Heid will talk about historical aspects of the Holy Years, in particular about Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303), who proclaimed the first Holy Year in Church history on 22 February 1300. In particular, he will focus on the power of the keys (Mt 16:19), as it has also appeared in papal imagery since this time (hence the lecture with pictures). The conference will be transmitted by TV und Radio .
In Fernblick-magazine, Thomas Zecher has published an engaging review of the Rome study trip organised by ‘Theologie im Fernkurs’ (Würzburg) in February of this year: ‘Zu den Quellen - Einmal richtig eintauchen’. It is about impressions, experiences, learning stations and hidden gems. Several members of the RIGG contributed to the study week with help and advice.
The annual introductory course in Christian Archaeology at the Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology takes place on the occasion of the Holy Year in both Italian and English and has a special theme: ‘Archeologia del pellegrinaggio / The Archaeology of Pilgrimage’. The course runs from November to March/April.
The Pontifical Institute for Christian Archaeology (PIAC) has published its study programme for the 2024/25 academic year. It includes the study conditions, scholarship opportunities and a chronicle of the past year. The PIAC will be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year. A number of activities are planned or have already been realised, such as the very illustrative booklet Cento Anni del Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana.
You would think that there would be something new under the blazing sun of Rome worth getting up for. This is not the case. What hasn't been written about the tennis court and swimming pool of the sporty John Paul II! Only notoriously unathletic pontiffs are spared such attacks of envy.
The old titles are returning. In 2018, Prof Claus Martin Girardet wrote a very illuminating essay in the Römische Quartalschrift on the title Pontifex Maximus of the Roman emperors. As the title of the essay suggests, the Christian emperor Gratian (d. 383) was the last emperor to bear the ancient Roman title Pontifex Maximus.
Since the Middle Ages, the great city procession with the icon of the Redeemer led from Lateran to Santa Maria Maggiore on the night of 14 to 15 August - on the hottest day of the year, in the hope that a cool breeze would blow on Rome's highest hill, the Esquiline (and this was certainly the case at the time, given the lack of high-rise buildings).
In memory of Hugo Brandenburg, the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana and the German Archaeological Institute are organising a study day on the early churches of Rome from 27 to 28 October 2025. Registrations for lectures are requested by December 2024.
Römisches Institut der Görres-Gesellschaft
