St. Peter’s Basilica is meeting pilgrims as the Jubilee of 2025 approaches. To anticipate the embrace, a greeting in all the languages of the world and, above all, to accompany everyone to the house of Peter. The Official Area of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter is born, an “all-inclusive” space at the entrance to Via della Conciliazione (at number 3A). A nerve center, but above all a place of welcome and encounter, that anticipates the “true” visit to the basilica complex. The deepest meaning of this new point is proximity, being close and supportive, present in the encounter with everyone.
Opening on October 31
The opening of the Official Area of St. Peter’s Basilica will take place on Thursday, October 31, at 12 noon. The presentation will be preceded by a blessing, in the presence of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vicar of the Holy Father for Vatican City and President of the Fabrica di San Pietro, with Father Enzo Fortunato, Director of Communications for St. Peter’s Basilica. The presence of the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, has also been announced.
Five dimensions
The Basilica and the universal Church “listening” and “going out” through a wide range of proposals in five dimensions. Starting with the welcome, offered through the welcome and human warmth of the staff, who will provide (in the language) all the requested information. A functional and synergistic service with the demands of life in the Basilica and supporting all needs, especially at times of greatest affluence. Technology will also be used to achieve this, through a dynamic and cutting-edge approach, using touch walls, totems or external operators and mobiles equipped with tablets. Virtual and augmented reality experiences are planned that will show a preview of the Basilica, in order to prepare the visit, to discover details that are not fully known, such as Bernini’s restored Baldachin. The project is aimed primarily at children and adolescents and will involve schools throughout the Holy Year. Spirituality, the ultimate goal of the experience in the Basilica, understood as encounter and knowledge, proposes the possibility of booking exclusive, immersive and tactile visits for people with visual disabilities and facilitated visits for the disabled, taking advantage of guides accredited by the Fabrica di San Pietro and new and innovative itineraries, also through the healthy and conscious use of Artificial Intelligence. There will also be the opportunity to experience personal dialogues with religious and lay people who are predisposed to listening and empathy.
Spiritual experience
Spiritual experienceAccompaniment and hospitality, instruments of otherness and charity, ensure the possibility of spiritual experience and knowledge of the faith. There are many people, truly eager to experience this grace, who find themselves, for various reasons, unable to reach Peter’s house and his Door. Through the activation of a capillary network (parishes, dioceses, nunciatures, embassies, social cooperation, Third Sector in general, etc.) people with difficulties will be able to move and be welcomed. The use of a simple and free app will make hospitality possible in places willing to offer a human and spiritual itinerary. All this will be possible thanks to important agreements and collaborations between the Be Human association and the Fábrica di San Pedro with great realities of Italian mobility.
Souvenirs to take away
Service is the gesture that remains in memory: within the Official Area, as well as through the numerous illustrated activities, it will be possible to acquire exclusive and authentic objects with the original logo of St. Peter’s Basilica. By choosing from a select line of quality and sustainable objects, everyone will be able to choose a souvenir to take home with them, a testimony to the power of an experience destined to remain in memory, to be shared with loved ones. Civita Mostre and Musei, on behalf of the St. Peter’s Factory, will ensure the sale of cultural, artistic and editorial products in the Official Area of St. Peter’s Basilica. Finally, the Basilica’s new magazine, “Piazza San Pietro”, will also be available in the Official Area, with the possibility of subscribing to it.
