Sacro Cuore di Gesù al Castro Pretorio () is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish and

titular church In the Catholic Church, a titular church () is a Churches in Rome, church in Rome that is assigned to a member of the Holy orders in the Catholic Church, clergy who is created a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal. These are Catholic churches in ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy, the mother church of the Salesian Order.

History

The church was originally planned by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, the land being bought by him along the via di Porta San Lorenzo, now via Marsala. His intention was to dedicate the church to

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

, who the Pope had declared ''Patron of the Universal Church'' on 8 December 1870. In 1871 however, he decided to dedicate the church to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

. Construction work began under

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, who named as architect Francesco Vespignani.

Conte Conte may refer to: * Conte (literature), a literary genre * Conte (surname) * Conté, a drawing medium * Conte, Jura, town in France * Conté royal family, a fictional family in Tamora Pierce's Tortallan world * Conte, the title of Count in Italy ...

Vespignani (1842–1899) was the of Leo XIII, and also built the

College of Sant'Anselmo The College of Sant'Anselmo () is an international Benedictine college founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1887 and located in Rome, Italy. Situated on the Aventine Hill, it is one of four Benedictine institutions that occupy the complex known as "Sant'Ans ...

on the

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. However, the work came to a halt for lack of funds. At this point, the pope entrusted the work to Don Bosco (St. John Bosco). With the pope's permission, Bosco bought an additional of land to construct a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for poor boys, and also a two floor building at the corner of via di Porta San Lorenzo and via Marghera that would serve as a residence for the Salesians. Bosco managed to collect the funds necessary for the construction of the church by appealing to the Catholic world and by making personal journeys to France and to Spain, despite failing health. The church was consecrated on 14 May 1887. The

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 to ...

(bell tower) was planned by Vespignani, but remained incomplete until 1931, when the imposing statue of the Sacred Heart, donated by Salesian past pupils in Argentina, was placed on it. Dedicated to the Sacred Heart, the church is served by the

Salesian The Salesians of Don Bosco (SDB), formally known as the Society of Saint Francis de Sales (), is a religious congregation of men in the Catholic Church, founded in 1859 by the Italian priest John Bosco to help poor and migrant youth during the ...

fathers and brothers. It used to have an adjoining

trade school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary or post-secondary education designed to provide vocational ...

with a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. At the death of Bosco, only the church and the building on via Marsala had been completed. Under his successor Don Michele Rua, the wings on via Marghera and via Magenta were constructed. When the trade school closed down, its place was taken by a middle school, gymnasium, and . It later became the provincial house of the Salesian province (first the IRO and later the ICC) and the offices of the CNOS (Centro Nazionale Opere Salesiane). Since 2017, it is the seat of the central government of the Salesian Congregation. The complex hosts also a significant work for young migrants, volunteers and university students, along with a hostel for young people managed by the Salesians and the . The church was elevated to the status of a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in 1921.

Cardinal-deacons

The Church of Sacro Cuore was established as a Deaconry on 5 February 1965 by Pope Paul VI, in anticipation of his creating twenty-seven new cardinals on 28 February 1965.David M. Cheyney, ''Catholic-Hierarchy''
''Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio''
Retrieved 2016-03-15. * Maximilien de Fürstenberg (

pro hac vice Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof might also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

to title for a

Cardinal Priest A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

) (26 June 196722 September 1988) * Giovanni Saldarini (pro hac vice for Cardinal Priest) (28 June 199118 April 2011) * Giuseppe Versaldi Cardinal Deacon (since 18 February 2012)

Gallery

File:Basilica del Sacro Cuore di Gesù 01.jpg File:Basilica del Sacro Cuore di Gesù 02.jpg File:Basilica del Sacro Cuore di Gesù 03.jpg File:Chiesa "Sacro Cuore du Gesù" - panoramio (1).jpg

Notes

References

* Massimo Alemanno, ''Le chiese di Roma moderna'' Vol. 1 (Roma : Armando, 2004). pp. 27–31. * * * Antonio Sperduti, ''Monumento di Don Bosco alla Cattedra di Pietro'' (Genova: B.N. Marconi, 2012).

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sacro Cuore Di Gesu A Castro Pretorio Christian organizations established in 1887 Basilica churches in Rome Sacro Cuore Jesu Castro Churches completed in 1887 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Salesian churches in Italy 1887 establishments in Italy Cuore di Gesu