In the Italian city of Tolentino, located in the Marches region, the church of the Sacred Heart and St Benedict was badly damaged by the same earthquakes that wrought so much devastation in nearby Norcia. After a year of restoration, the church has now been restored and reopened, thanks in part to a generous contribution from the Hungarian government. On December 9th, Pontifical First Vespers of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, patron of Italy, and particularly of that region of central Italy, in which Loreto is located, were celebrated by Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, Secretary of the Apostolic Segnatura, in the presence of Mons. Nazzareno Marconi, the bishop of Macerata and Tolentino, and Mons. Lajos Varga, auxiliary bishop of Vác, Hungary. The president of the Juventutem International Federation, Bertalan Kiss, were present, as well some of the Monks of Norcia, and members of local religious confraternities. An official delegation of the Hungarian government was also present, including the ambassadors to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, to the Italian State, Ádám Kovács, and Péter Heltai, the ambassador-at-large of the charitable organization Hungary Helps. The secretary for religious affairs, Miklós Soltész, read a message of congratulations from Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to the community of Tolentino: “Following this terrible destruction, you have been an example of perseverance to us all, restoring in one year the walls of your church, so that you can continue in this ancient building, now renewed, the prayer begun by your fathers.”
Our thanks to Dr Andrea Carradori, prior of the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, for sharing this information and these photos with us. (Photos by Paolo Biancoforte.)
Our thanks to Dr Andrea Carradori, prior of the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, for sharing this information and these photos with us. (Photos by Paolo Biancoforte.)
Bishop Marconi unveils a plaque in Italian and Hungarian commemorating the restoration.
Members of the local confraternities.
