The Church of Saint Felix of Cantalice at Centocelle ( it, San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle, la, Sancti Felicis a Cantalicio ad Centumcellas, es, San Féliciano de Cantalicio a Centocelle) is a Roman Catholic

titular Titular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Title character in a narrative work, the character referred to in its title Religion * Titular (Catholicism), a cardinal who holds a titulus, one of the main churches of Rome ** Titular bisho ...

church in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

located in the Centocelle quarter, built as a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

by decree of Cardinal

Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani (1 October 1871 – 13 January 1951) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church who served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, Vicar General of Rome, Secretary of the Holy Of ...

Vicar General of Rome it, Vicario Generale di Sua Santità , unofficial_names = Cardinal Vicar , insignia = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , insigniasize = 75px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms of the Diocese of Rome , image = AngeloDeDonatis.jpg , incumbent = Angel ...

. The church was given papal endorsement on 30 April 1969, when

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

made it a

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church is a church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the clergy who is created a cardinal. These are Catholic churches in the city, within the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Rome, that serve as honorary de ...

for cardinals. He blessed its fresco on the

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God is a feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the aspect of her motherhood of Jesus Christ, whom she had circumcised on the eighth day after his birth according to Levitical Law. Christians see him ...

and

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, 1970.Cardinal Title S. Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle
GCatholic.org The church is referred to as ''a Centocelle'' (English: "at Centocelle") because it located at the site of a former Roman imperial cavalry barracks. It has been the titular church of Philippine Cardinal

Luis Antonio Tagle Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle ( ; ; born June 21, 1957) is a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church currently serving as the Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization (formerly the Congregation for the Evangeli ...

since 24 November 2012, and became ''pro hac vice'' suburbicarian when Cardinal Tagle was co-opted to Cardinal Bishop rank in 2020. It has been administered by the

Order of Friars Minor Capuchin The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

since 1928. On 10 March 2013, Cardinal Tagle celebrated

Holy Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass, "the same Christ ...

with members of the Italian-Filipino communities before attending the

2013 papal conclave The 2013 papal conclave was convened to elect a pope to succeed Pope Benedict XVI following his resignation on 28 February 2013. After the 115 participating cardinal-electors gathered, they set 12 March 2013 as the beginning of the conclave. On ...

History

On 14 November 1929, the Italian

Marquis A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...

Achilles Muti-Bussi donated the land to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a gesture of goodwill for its impoverished peasants living nearby. The Capuchin friars arrived on 16 December 1930 and on 20 September of the same year the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

was laid for their new Capuchin monastery. On 30 May 1932, the church itself was canonically signed and erected but the actual construction of the church began in 1934. The original church itself was established on 29 March 1935 through the apostolic decree by

, Cardinal

in his letter "''Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum''" (English: "We encourage the whole church"), which canonically entrusted the shrine to the

who tended to the poor slums of the area. The church was formally recognized on 17 October 1935 by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

in the ''

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''. Several religious sisters have also joined in the church's charity program throughout the years, such as the Benedictine Nuns (1925), the

Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul The Company of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul ( la, Societas Filiarum Caritatis a Sancto Vincentio de Paulo), commonly called the Daughters of Charity or Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent De Paul, is a Society of Apostoli ...

(1935) and the Franciscan nuns (1927). The nuns assisted the Capuchin Friars in tending to the poor children, prostitutes and the unemployed. On 1 October 1934, Cardinal Vicar

Ugo Poletti Ugo Poletti (19 April 1914 – 25 February 1997) was an Italian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Vicar General of Rome from 1973 to 1991, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1973. Biography Born in Omegna, Poletti studied ...

drew the exact land measurements and ownership of the parish, which was enacted into civil law on 17 October 1935. The parish complex was designed by Italian architects Mario Paniconi and Ciulio Pediconi. On 2 October 1941, the church was consecrated by Monsignor

Luigi Traglia Luigi Traglia (3 April 1895 – 22 November 1977) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Vicar General of Rome from 1965 to 1968, and Dean of the College of Cardinals from 1974 until his death. Traglia was elevated to ...

, who was then the titular archbishop of Caesarea in Palestine, and the vice-regent of Rome. The land territory was taken from one of the sub-parishes of Saint Marcellino e Pietro ad Duas Lauros and Saint Mary of Good Counsel church. In July 1968, the Vicariate of Rome approved the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

in the apse of the church featuring Saint Felix of Cantalice, its namesake patron saint made by Father Ugolino from Belluno (born Silvio Alessandri, born 15 December 1919). At the time, the fresco was heavily criticized for its modern architecture, its polychrome colours, the poor natural lighting, and the manner in which it was painted on the wall of 480 square meters. On 1 January 1970, on the occasion of the

blessed the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

of the church in a ceremony televised live by

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

. On 1 May 2020,

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

conceded to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect for the Evangelization of Peoples the rank of cardinal-bishop making the church a suburbicarian church ''

pro hac vice In the legal field, ''pro hac vice'' () is a practice in common law jurisdictions whereby a lawyer who has not been admitted to practice in a certain jurisdiction is allowed to participate in a particular case in that jurisdiction. Although ''pro ...

''.

Architecture

The main façade has a polychromed modern painting which depicts Saint Felix of Cantalice in prayer. The church is decorated with works of the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Capuchin artist Ugolino da Belluno, which include the ''Madonna and Child with Saint Felix'' in the apse and the ''Appearance of angels and Jesus in a vision of St Francis'' in the transept. The fresco in the apse features the Madonna as ''Virgin of the Flowers'', wearing a robe of lilies while handing down the

Child Jesus The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, ...

to Saint Felix, hooded and prostrate. Below are images of the Jewish children of Terezin who were exterminated by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

authorities, while a newspaper image of ''Mario Dominici'' is featured, the boy found dead in the area during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

as a result of Nazi

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. It also features cherubic angels, and

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...

sign constellations which tell the story of creation. Other scenes of the frescoes involve morality tales, anti-greed and anti-pornographic sentiments, as well as several miraculous scenes from the life of Saint Felix of Cantalice.

List of Cardinals

Stephen Kim Sou-hwan Stephen (often rendered as Latin Stephanus) Kim Sou-hwan (; May 8, 1922 – February 16, 2009) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and the former archbishop of Seoul, South Korea. Having been an iconic figure in South Korea's bloody an ...

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— Cardinal-Priest by

— (30 April 1969 – 16 February 2009) *

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

— Cardinal-Priest by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

— (24 November 2012 – 1 May 2020) — Cardinal-Bishop by Pope Francis — (1 May 2020 – Present)

References

* C. Rendina, ''Le Chiese di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Milano 2000 * C. Cerchiai, ''Quartiere XIX. Prenestino-Centocelle'', in AA.VV, ''I quartieri di Roma'', Newton & Compton Editori, Roma 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:San Felice Da Cantalice A Centocelle

Felice Da Cantalice Felix of Cantalice, O.F.M. Cap. ( it, Felice da Cantalice; 18 May 1515 – 18 May 1587) was an Italian Capuchin friar of the 16th century. Canonized by Pope Clement XI in 1712, he was the first Capuchin friar to be named a saint. Life Felix wa ...

Rome Q. XIX Prenestino-Centocelle