Santa Maria Addolorata a Piazza Buenos Aires ( en,

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

at Piazza Buenos Aires, ) is 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 ...

and the

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

national church A national church is a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in a draft discussing ...

, on Viale Regina Margherita,

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 ...

History

It was founded by the Argentine priest Msgr. José León Gallardo with donations from the Argentine bishops, with the first stone being laid on 9 July 1910, the centenary of Argentine independence. Mrs. Saenz Peña, wife of the

President of Argentina The president of Argentina ( es, Presidente de Argentina), officially known as the president of the Argentine Nation ( es, Presidente de la Nación Argentina), is both head of state and head of government of Argentina. Under Constitution of Ar ...

, was present at the ceremony. Construction took twenty years, and the church was finally inaugurated in 1930. From then until 1989, the church was served by

Mercedarian The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order est ...

fathers; it is now served by Argentine diocesan clergy from a community in an adjoining house. It was built by the architect Giuseppe Astorri with a 7-storey

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...

and a 2-storey façade in the style of ancient Christian architecture, with a central depiction of the

Lamb Lamb or The Lamb may refer to: * A young sheep * Lamb and mutton, the meat of sheep Arts and media Film, television, and theatre * ''The Lamb'' (1915 film), a silent film starring Douglas Fairbanks Sr. in his screen debut * ''The Lamb'' (1918 ...

and symbols of the four

Evangelists Evangelists may refer to: * Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism * Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament * ''The Evangelists ''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Roma ...

. The interior is also in ancient, Roman-Byzantine style, with a nave and two aisles divided by

Ionic column The Ionic order is one of the three canonic orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric and the Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan (a plainer Doric), and the rich variant of Corinthian called the composite or ...

s, a

Cosmatesque Cosmatesque, or Cosmati, is a style of geometric decorative inlay stonework typical of the architecture of Medieval Italy, and especially of Rome and its surroundings. It was used most extensively for the decoration of church floors, but was also u ...

-style pulpit and lectern and a

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

marble floor (laid in geometric patterns with the national

coat of arms of Argentina The coat of arms of the Argentine Republic or Argentine shield ( es, Escudo de la República Argentina) was established in its current form in 1944, but has its origins in the seal of the General Constituent Assembly of 1813. It is supposed tha ...

in the centre, and a memorial slab to its founder, which was presented by the Argentine cardinals and bishops at the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

). In the apse at the east end is a mosaic of Our Lady of Sorrows by

Giambattista Conti Giovanni Battista was a common Italian given name (see Battista for those with the surname) in the 16th-18th centuries. It refers to "John the Baptist" in English, the French equivalent is "Jean-Baptiste". Common nicknames include Giambattista, Gia ...

and a

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

decorated with onyx and covered by a

baldachino A baldachin, or baldaquin (from it, baldacchino), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over hi ...

supported by four granite

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

s. The choir is separated from the nave by an altar ring of white marble which includes intaglia and bronze gates with the national coat-of-arms and the arms of the Order of the

Mercedarians The Royal, Celestial and Military Order of Our Lady of Mercy and the Redemption of the Captives ( la, Ordo Beatae Mariae de Mercede Redemptionis Captivorum, abbreviated O. de M.), also known as the Mercedarians, is a Catholic mendicant order es ...

. At one altar is a small statue of

Our Lady of Luján Our Lady of Luján ( es, Nuestra Señora de Luján) is a celebrated 16th-century statue of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The image, also known as the Virgin of Luján ( es, Virgen de Luján), is on display in the Basilica of Luján in ...

, principal patron of Argentina. Since 1967, it was a Cardinal's Titular Church.

Estanislao Esteban Karlic Estanislao Esteban Karlic (born 7 February 1926) is an Argentine Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Paraná, Archbishop of Paraná from 1986 to 2003, and was elevated to the Ca ...

is the incumbent cardinal-prorector since 2007.

Special festivals and Masses

The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is celebrated on 15 September and 15 February (due to different calendars placing the feast on different days, it is celebrated twice in this church). Mass is celebrated in Spanish on the first Sunday in the month, and occasionally at other times.

Cardinal-Priest

Pope Paul VI established "Beata Maria Virgine Addolorata a Piazza Buenos Aires" as titular church on 6 June 1967 based on the Apostolic Constitution "Sunt hic Romæ". * Nicolas Fasolino 6 June 1967 appointed-13 August 1969 died *

Raúl Francisco Primatesta Raúl Francisco Primatesta (April 14, 1919 – May 1, 2006) was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church of Argentina, and Archbishop Emeritus of Córdoba. Biography Primatesta was born in Capilla del Señor, Exaltación de la Cruz, province ...

5 March 1973 appointed-1 May 2006 died *

24 November 2007 appointed- present

References

External links

Nyborg: Santa Maria Addolorata

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santa Maria Addolorata A Piazza Buenos Aires

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

Maria Addolorata Roman Catholic churches completed in 1930 Catholic Church in Argentina Rome Q. XVII Trieste 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy