Category: Rome

Yes, we have a new Pope!

10/5/2025

Pope Leo the Fourteenth waves to the crowd below from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, Rome.

POPE LEO XIV

(Formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost.)

He is the 267th successor of St. Peter, the Apostle.

Elected Pontifex on 8 May 2025, Vatican City, Rome.

The Americas Pope: North and South; both Peru and the United States.

Pope Leo XIV is the first Pope from the Order of St. Augustine (OSA), but the seventh from religious orders that follow the Rule of St. Augustine of Hippo.

Vatican News biography article linked here.

Requiescat in pace, Papa Franciscus

21/4/2025

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

POPE FRANCIS (I)
Born into this world ~ 17 December 1936.
Born into Eternal Life ~ 21 April 2025 (Easter Monday).

2025 Calendar: Now Available!

28/11/2024

Orders are now Closed

After having received them from the printers this morning, I can announce that my 2025 Calendar is now available for the coming year. The 2025 Calendar is a return both to sharing my artwork as well as the saints (and not yet declared saints) of the Catholic Church.

— Cost for the 2025 Calendars is $30 AUD each, plus postage (within Australia), with a deal for three (3) calendars at $80 AUD.

— Postage is as follows:
+$3 AUD for 1 calendar
+$4 AUD for 2*
+$6 AUD for 3*
* delivered in the same envelope.

— For International postal orders we will arrange Air Mail costs appropriately, on an order-by-order basis.

You can place your order through the form found under the Contact page or by messaging me via Facebook, or talk to me in person.

Vincent Cavanagh
28 Nov 2024

* 2025 Calendar Flip-Through GIF added — 6 December 2024.

The Social Side of Pilgrim Life in Rome

3/8/2023

Eating Macca’s on the steps of the colonnade of St Peter’s Basilica with Paul, Bettina and Izzy.
Yes, with all the great Italian food available – this is bizarre. But we did the Macca’s thing for lunch on our last day in Rome, too. Comfort food, and smells of home, perhaps.

From left to right: seminarian Paul, Bettina, and Izzy just visible over my right shoulder.

A happy snap of the dynamic duo in front of St Peter's Basilica. (Photo by Sean Dixon.)

Here is the majority of the Over 18's Pilgrim Bus waiting under the portico at the main entrance to St Peter's for our radios to be handed out. The radios let us listen to our guide without having to strain our ears.
(Photo by Jessica 'Jess' Jakubek.)

Lunch Group at Pizzeria alle Carrette, very much a "hole in the wall" establishment in Rome. Afterwards we had quality gelato from Flor Gelato. (Photo by Maria Ferraris.)

Night-time walk with Lachlan and others through the streets of Rome.
They don't call it The Eternal City for nothing ;)

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
31 Jul 2023, 2.42pm Italy | 31 Jul 2023, 10.42pm Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 20 - Other Places in Rome

2/8/2023

Because World Youth Day in Lisbon has now started, postings about Rome need to be wrapped up. Therefore, each of these other places in Rome only have a single photo, and the barest of descriptions. The post after this one will be a brief look at the social side of being a pilgrim in Rome – and then the World Youth Day posts will start.

But first, a reflection on my time at the Catacombs of St Callistus:
It was almost like St Patrick’s, Church Hill, in the city of Sydney, but cooler (as in colder) and underground. An oasis away from the mad throng (physical and/or spiritual) of Rome, and a place of shelter, calm, and cool away from the heat.
It was a spiritual palate cleanser from the Colosseum and Forum, and the rest of the city at large. A moment to breathe, be, and know that we aren’t alone in our trials in this current age. Many have gone before us; and are calling us on with them to the heavenly home land.

Vatican Museums

One of the very long corridors covered in artwork that we saw during our tour of the Vatican Museums.

Sancta Sanctorum

This used to be the personal chapel of the pope when he lived at St John Lateran.
It contains some much-venerated icons.

The Colosseum

Great numbers of people viewing the inside of the Colosseum.

The Roman Forum

To get to this view, you have to do a lot of walking with almost no shade.

Basilica of St Cosmas and St Damian

Of 6th century Christian origin; but it went through a major restoration in the 17th century of just about everything except this beautiful mosaic apse.

Parish church of St Paula the Roman Matron (Chiesa Parrocchiale di Santa Paola Romana)

Where some pilgrims found Mass on 31 July thanks to seminarian Matthew’s help.
It was walking distance from our hotel.
St Paula, a widow, lived at the same time as St Jerome, and was of great assistance to him not only in Rome, but also in Bethlehem.

Trevi Fountain

The song, Three Coins in the Fountain (1955) from the movie of the same name, refers to throwing coins into this particular fountain in Rome. Each of the three coins represent a different wish, one of which is to return to Rome.

Church of the Gesu

This is headquarters for the Jesuit order, and I was blessed to be there for Mass on 31 July, the feast day of St Ignatius Loyola – and founder of the Jesuit order.

The Pantheon

What used to be a pagan temple to many gods in the 2nd century, and since the 7th century has been a Christian church dedicated to St Mary and the Martyrs.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
31 Jul 2023, 2.42pm Italy | 31 Jul 2023, 10.42pm Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 19 - St Paul's Outside the Walls, Rome

2/8/2023

It was here, very late in the day, that we met up with the Salvatorian pilgrim group from several states in Australia. Together we explored St Paul’s. Under the altar in this place is the tomb of St Paul, the writer of all those New Testament epistles, himself.

There are a lot of important people in my life named Paul or Pauline; the most important of them being my Dad. So this was a must-visit place for me, to pray for them.

Exterior of St Paul's

The colourful mosaics show where the church part of the basilica starts. In front of the church part is a garden surrounded by columns. It is called an atrium. If you recall the way the temple in Jerusalem was laid out, there were inner courts for priests and men, and outer courts for women and gentiles. In a similar way, the church part was for the baptised, and the atrium was for the un-baptised and for those doing penance for serious sins. At the Easter Vigil there was great rejoicing when the newly baptised, and those who had completed their penance, entered into the church part to participate in the Eucharist.

Statue of St Paul, in the middle of the atrium

Although this famous statue of St Paul is the focal point of the atrium; it is surprisingly difficult to get a good photo of it. This is the closest I got to the actual statue.

Left Transept, Interior of St Paul's

Looking from the end of the nave towards the left transept. A little of the apse can be seen, and all the altar with its elaborate canopy. That ornate column is the paschal candle stand. Around that column are carved scenes from the life of Jesus. The paschal candle is lit at the Easter Vigil, and every day of the Easter season ending in Pentecost. It symbolises the presence of the risen Lord Jesus with us.

Nave of St Paul's

View down the nave and towards the apse.

On the left-hand side is a statue of St Peter, and on the right-hand side is a statue of St Paul. The apse itself is covered in beautiful mosaics. The curved part of the apse has a very large depiction of Jesus as ruler and judge, flanked by St Luke and St Paul on the left, and by St Peter and St Andrew on the right. With all the columns on both sides of the nave, it has the traditional early basilica shape – even though it has been though fire and earthquake, and has been enlarged, restored and reconstructed many times.

Look through the columns on the right-hand side, you should see a coloured part illuminated by light.

Papal Medallions

Here’s a close-up of that illuminated part. Around the upper part of the walls in this basilica every pope that has ever been, has, in chronological order, a representative medallion. The illuminated one is Pope Francis because he is the present pope; and you can see the un-illuminated Pope Benedict XVI beside him. Whoever is pope after Pope Francis will have their portrait fill the empty medallion to the left of Pope Francis.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
30 Jul 2023, 5.56pm Italy | 31 Jul 2023, 1.56am Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 18 - Catacombs of St Callistus, Rome

1/8/2023

Welcome to the Catacombs of St Callistus

This is a rather serene place with green lawns, paved avenues, good amounts of shade and stone edging which we gratefully sat down upon.

It was welcome relief after being in the very hot sun most of the day at the Colosseum and trudging through the remains of the Roman Forum.

Before St Callistus was pope, while he was still a deacon, he was entrusted with the care of this cemetery which bears his name. By then the cemetery already held many tombs of the earliest popes and martyrs, as well as the non-martyred. It was in this place St Cecilia was first buried until her body was transferred some 600 years later into the basilica built over her home in Rome. There are some 15 hectares of underground cemetery in this place, and 5 levels of catacombs.

After the claustrophobic conditions walking through the catacombs, we were grateful for this open-air Mass location. The custodians of the catacombs are very strict about no photographs being taken within them. That’s why behind the altar you can see a mosaic containing an image of bread and a fish – an early Christian symbol of the Eucharist. Above that are pictures and diagrams to remind us of what we saw down there. Including the early Christian symbols and iconography, the horizontal burials in niches, and how some parts are long, thin corridors and some parts open out into chapel areas the size of an average lounge room.

Here’s larger versions of two of those explanatory posters. We were shown these in the preparatory area before we went down into the catacombs.

On the left-hand side you can see motifs of the Good Shepherd.
Of the fish which was a symbol of Jesus during times of persecution. Although if the fish is large it can refer to Jonah and the whale, and be a symbol of resurrection.
Of the chi-rho combination of Greek letters that look like a capital P covered with a capital X, which two letters begin the phonetics of Christ.
Five Greek capital letters together: Iota for the first Greek sound of the name of Jesus; Chi for the first Greek sound of the name Christ, which in turn means anointed one; Theta for the first Greek sound of God; Upsilon as the first Greek sound for the name of son – without the silent h; and Sigma for the first Greek sound of the name Saviour. ICQUS.
A symbol of an anchor is for Jesus the anchor of our hope.
A symbol of a woman with hands raised in prayer, and sheep. A woman with hands raised is a symbol of the Church at prayer, depending on the depiction it can also refer at the same time to Mary, mother of Jesus, who is the model of the Church at prayer.
The fronds of palm are symbols of martyrdom.
Doves can symbolize baptism, peace, Christian souls.

On the right-hand side you can see drawings about how the catacombs were built and decorated; and how the entry points were small and easy to miss, and how they got light into the larger chapel spaces.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
30 July 2023, 6.13pm Italy | 31 July 2023, 2.13am Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 17 - Basilica of St John Lateran, Rome

1/8/2023

The major basilica of St John Lateran is the cathedral church of Rome. At the main altar, only the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, can preside at Mass.

There is no St John Lateran: it is Lateran because it sits on the Lateran hill in Rome, and the basilica honours both St John the Baptist and St John the Apostle; although technically its primary dedication is to Jesus as Saviour of the World, with minor dedication to the two St Johns.

We do something similar when we qualify which church of St John the Baptist we are talking about, e.g. St John the Baptist Woy Woy and St John the Baptist Bonnyrigg.

It is this Basilica as the mother of all churches that the Church celebrates with a feast on 9 November, the ‘Dedication of the Lateran Basilica’.

This statue of St Francis and the early friars of the Franciscan order is located across the road and in front of the basilica of St John Lateran. That might seem strange, but in the time of St Francis if you wanted to get an audience with the Pope, you came here, since the Pope lived in the Lateran palace attached to St John Lateran. In fact this was the location of the papal residence for about 1000 years.

What St Francis wanted was to get papal approval for the Franciscan Rule of Life needed to recognise St Francis and his followers as a religious order. Would you let a group of barefoot, poorly clad men into a papal audience? But God found a way. God gave the pope of that time, Pope Innocent III, a dream while he slept, of Francis holding up the basilica of St John Lateran. This helped the pope take Francis and his men seriously and give them a Yes to their request. Hence the memorial statue of this event.

The way you know this is the Lateran Basilica – and not any other big basilica - is at the top of the roof stands Jesus, the triumphant Redeemer holding His Cross. To the left of Him is St John the Baptist. To the right of Him is St John the Apostle. The other statues represent doctors of the Church from both Eastern and Western traditions, for example St Basil the Great and St Ambrose must be represented in the statues somewhere on that roof.

In case you are wondering what that blue round thing is in the foreground, I’ve got one too. It came in our pilgrim pack, and it folds spirally down into a flattish circular object about the size of the palm of an adult hand. When the weather is hot, it can be used as a fan; and if anyone feels playful it can also be used as a frisbee. But the most important thing is that it fits inside our pilgrim satchels.

This view from inside St John Lateran looking down the nave towards the apse.

Along each side of the nave, between the high arches, are very tall, white statues of the Apostles. Surrounding each statue of an Apostle are grey columns on each side. St Paul in this depiction of the Apostles replaces St Matthias, and the statues of St Peter and St Paul are the ones closest to the altar. Each of the Apostles carries the weapon with which they were martyred – except St John, who has an eagle at his feet, a writing stylus in one hand, and an open book in the other hand.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
29 Jul 2023, 7.19pm Italy | 30 Jul 2023, 3:19am Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 16 - Basilica of St Mary Major, Rome

31/7/2023

This is one of the four major basilicas in Rome, all with Holy Doors. The others being St Peter’s, St John Lateran, and St Paul outside the walls.

In the mid-4th century, the then pope received a dream containing a request from Mary, mother of Jesus, for a church to be built in her honour at a place that would be pointed out to him. Then in the hottest part of the year snow falls in Rome – that’s the place. On the anniversary of that fall of snow in 434 AD this heaven-requested basilica was consecrated. On that anniversary, 5 August, the Church continues to celebrate the optional memorial of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

Close up of apse and altar area

It is truly breathtaking when you walk in for the first time.
The mosaics you can see here date from the 5th century.

Main body of the nave, facing the entrance.

From this photo you can see that the basilica is built in the very early basilica shape: long nave, colonnades giving entry to side naves, and a large apse. The opulent parts you can see date mostly from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Where we had Mass today

This chapel is officially known as the Borghese Chapel, and its major focal point is the beloved icon of Mary, Salus Populi Romani – Salvation of the people of Rome.
Mass was (low style) Ad Orientem, since the altar is attached to the wall, and not free-standing, the bishop and priests offered Mass with their backs to us.

Close up Salus Populi Romani

The reason the icon bears this name is due to a miracle that saved the people of Rome from plague. Later in history, Pope St Pius V gathered the people of God around this icon to pray the rosary begging God for victory in the battle of Lepanto. To commemorate that victory each year the Church celebrates the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7 October. More recently, Pope St John Paul II commissioned a copy of this icon to accompany the World Youth Day Cross around the world. Many recent popes have prayed before this icon to seek the intercession of Mary, mother of Jesus, as they begin their apostolic journeys around the world.

Exterior

The large pillar at the front topped with a Marian statue, and the very tall bell tower behind the basilica of St Mary Major are its distinguishing exterior features. Which is important, because after a while all these big, wonderful churches start to look the same from the outside – especially when you are visiting four churches in one day.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
29 Jul 2023, 7.07pm Italy | 30 Jul 2023, 3.07am Sydney

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Pilgrim Blog 15 - Basilica of St Peter, Rome

30/7/2023

The first thing we did today was to tour the Vatican Museums. They are best seen before the crowds build up. Part of that tour was through the Sistine Chapel. That Chapel is where you can see Michelangelo’s famous Last Judgements; it is also where the cardinals gather to elect a new pope.
The next thing was to visit St Peter’s Basilica. In here St Peter, chief of the Apostles, has his tomb. As do many other popes from throughout history.

Here we are, waiting in line to go through security, before we can enter St Peter’s. If you can find a person looking towards the camera, the one with a white hat, that’s Lachlan, one of the members in our small group.

This Holy Door is kept closed. It is only opened during a Holy Year. When it is open during a Holy Year, you go through it on your knees, seeking pardon for your sins. That’s why it is also known as the Door of Mercy. The next Holy Year is 2025, from Christmas Eve 2024 to Epiphany 2026, with a theme of “Pilgrims of Hope”. On the panels of the Holy Door are scenes from the Gospel, including the Annunciation, the Baptism of Jesus, the death of Jesus, and His resurrection.

Statue of St John Eudes inside St Peter's Basilica

Looking up along the nave of St Peter’s, the statue of this saint caught my eye. My birthday falls on the day the Church celebrates his optional memorial. An optional memorial means that any priest saying Mass that day can choose either to remember him, or not. St John Eudes had a particular devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary – that’s why he is depicted with an open cloak showing those Two Hearts, one surmounted with a cross, burning, and circled by thorns, and the other also burning but pieced by a sword. This saint wrote the specific Mass texts and Liturgy of the Hours texts for the feast days of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart; he also founded a religious order of women to give refuge to those seeking to escape a life of prostitution.

Our tour guide was a deacon from Holland, that’s why you can see a partial clerical collar. He was alive during the pontificate of Pope St John XXIII. Also in this photo are fellow Broken Bay pilgrims Sean (holding the flag) and Jess.

Pope St John XXIII

Look carefully and see why he is still known as the smiling Pope.

This is the Pope who was elected in 1958, just before his 77th birthday, and who inaugurated the Second Vatican Council. When he died of stomach cancer in 1963, Pope Saint Paul VI completed the Second Vatican Council. Pope St John XXIII was canonised in 2014.

Vincent Cavanagh #bbwyd
29 Jul 2023, 1.41pm Italy | 29 Jul 2023, 9.41pm Sydney

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Yes, we have a new Pope!

POPE LEO XIV

Requiescat in pace, Papa Franciscus

2025 Calendar: Now Available!

Orders are now Closed

The Social Side of Pilgrim Life in Rome

Pilgrim Blog 20 - Other Places in Rome

Pilgrim Blog 19 - St Paul's Outside the Walls, Rome

Pilgrim Blog 18 - Catacombs of St Callistus, Rome

Pilgrim Blog 17 - Basilica of St John Lateran, Rome

Pilgrim Blog 16 - Basilica of St Mary Major, Rome

Pilgrim Blog 15 - Basilica of St Peter, Rome

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POPE LEO XIV

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