Santi Celso e Giuliano is a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

and papal chapel of the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome ( la, Dioecesis Urbis seu Romana; it, Diocesi di Roma) is the ecclesiastical district under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church ...

in the care of the

Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP; la, Institutum Christi Regis Summi Sacerdotis []; french: Institut du Christ Roi Souverain Prêtre []) is a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right in communion with ...

. It has held its basilica status by custom and practice since ancient times. The church is located on Vicolo del Curato number 12, just off Via del Banco di Santo Spirito, the road leading to

Ponte Sant'Angelo Ponte Sant'Angelo, originally the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), to span the Tiber from the city centre to his newly constructed maus ...

History

The first church on the site dated to at least the year 1008, and in 1198 was given the honor of being named
papal chapel
Canons of the

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...

are mentioned in the fourteenth century and at around the same time it served as the chapel for the procurators of the Audientia, a predecessor body to the Apostolic Signatura. The church underwent intermittent building and remodeling in the late 1400s and early 1500s, during which time

Donato Bramante Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance styl ...

drafted a design for the building. This, however, was never implemented and the church remained unfinished. It was also during this time that the church became tied to the Office of Ceremonies, (the predecessor body to the

Sacred Congregation of Rites The Sacred Congregation of Rites was a congregation of the Roman Curia, erected on 22 January 1588 by Pope Sixtus V by '' Immensa Aeterni Dei''; it had its functions reassigned by Pope Paul VI on 8 May 1969. The Congregation was charged with the ...

), primarily through the work of

Paris de Grassis Paris de Grassis (also Paride de' Grassi, c. 1470 – 10 June 1528) was the master of ceremonies to Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X. He joined the Office of Ceremonies in May 1504 as a participating ceremonialist, progressed to role of president ...

. Through his dual role as archpriest of the church and head of the Office of Ceremonies, he oversaw the linking of the small, uninfluential Office to the parish, which had many wealthy and influential patrons, and was a popular

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

destination, as it possessed a relic of the left foot of Mary Magdalene since the mid-fifteenth century.The parish was also where many members of the Roman Curia and Papal Court resided. This connection was strengthened by the church's placement at the start of the ''strada papale'', the processional route a newly-elected Pope followed to take possession of

St. John Lateran The Archbasilica Cathedral of the Most Holy Savior and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran ( it, Arcibasilica del Santissimo Salvatore e dei Santi Giovanni Battista ed Evangelista in Laterano), also known as the Papa ...

. All processions from the city to St. Peter's passed by the church as well. Under the 1513 bull ''Pastoralis Officii,'' the president of the Office of Ceremonies (who also served as the papal master of ceremonies) received the title of archpriest of the church. In 1518,

Biagio da Cesena Biagio Martinelli (Cesena 1463 – Rome 1544), better known as Biagio da Cesena (meaning "from Cesena", his native city), was a 16th-century Italian priest and Vatican official who served as Papal Master of Ceremonies. He is widely known for his ...

, Papal Master of Ceremonies to

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

Adrian VI Pope Adrian VI ( la, Hadrianus VI; it, Adriano VI; nl, Adrianus/Adriaan VI), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his d ...

Clement VII Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...

and

Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

, was appointed archpriest of the church. He is remembered principally for his criticism of the nudity presented in '' The Last Judgment'' of Michelangelo, who is thought to have portrayed him there as Minos in the inferno. Under Pope Clement XII, the architect Carlo de Dominicis created the current baroque church which was completed in 1735. The main altarpiece is a ''Christ in Glory'' by

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign visitors tra ...

and commissioned by Cardinal Giuseppe Furietti. This present building has been described as "...one of the loveliest Baroque interiors in the city

f Rome F, or f, is the sixth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabet#Let ...

and "a fine example of eighteenth-century art". Eugenio Pacelli, who would become Pope Pius XII in 1939, was baptized in the church 2 days after his birth in 1876.

Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

transferred the church to the parish of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in 1906, and in 1912 the canons of the church were given the privilege of prelatial

choir dress Choir dress is the traditional vesture of the clerics, seminarians and religious of Christian churches worn for public prayer and the administration of the sacraments except when celebrating or concelebrating the Eucharist. It differs fr ...

by him. On Christmas Eve, 2019, the rector of the basilica invited canons of the

to take over the church as its home in Rome.

Archpriests

* Giovanni Jacopo Schiafenati * Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio *

* Ippolito Morbioli de’ Grassi *

Lorenzo Pucci Lorenzo Pucci (18 August 1458 – 16 September 1531) was an Italian cardinal and bishop from the Florentine Pucci family. His brother Roberto Pucci and his nephew Antonio Pucci also became cardinals. Biography Pucci was born in Florence. He be ...

History

Archpriests

See also

References

Further reading