Rome (Italy). On Sunday, 17 December 2023, Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, SDB, Rector Major of the Salesian Society of Saint John Bosco, will take possession of the Deaconry of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Via Tuscolana, Rome, assigned to him by the Holy Father Pope Francis during the Consistory on 30 September 2023.
This was announced by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, announcing that the rite will begin at 10:30 am in the Roman church of Piazza Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, no. 54.
The solemn Eucharist will also be attended by several members of the General Council of the Congregation and the Salesians of the community. Together with the parish community, the participation of various representatives and members of the Salesian Family is also expected.
The Deaconry of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice is a cardinal’s title, that is, one of the churches of the Diocese of Rome and its suburban sees whose name and properties are linked to a cardinal at the time of its creation.
The cardinal title, unlike the particular ecclesial office to which a cardinal can be called, is for life, and symbolises the cardinal’s belonging to the Roman clergy and the unity of the College of Cardinals as an instrument of support for the pastoral activity of the Bishop of Rome.
The parish basilica of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice was built at the urging of Pope Pius XI, who, after approving the project of the vocational school that the Salesians wanted to dedicate to him on the Via Tuscolana in Rome, asked them to attach a church to it, proposing that he himself would consecrate it to Don Bosco’s Madonna. To comply with the Pope’s wish, it was decided that on 4 June 1929, immediately after the beatification of Don Bosco, the first stone of the new church would be placed next to the Pius XI institute.
It was built by architects Nicola Mosso and Giulio Valotti, SDB, between 1931 and 1936, and consecrated on the morning of 17 May 1936 by Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome. It has been the seat of the cardinalate since 1967 and since 1969 it has had the dignity of a minor basilica.
Source: InfoANS
Qué gran sentido de pertenencia a la Iglesia