The majestic Christmas tree was illuminated and the artistic Nativity scene was unveiled to the sound of traditional music and carols. The moment has arrived when the faithful, pilgrims and visitors can admire the Christmas installations in St. Peter’s Square.
Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga and Sr. Raffaella Petrini, respectively, President and Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, will inaugurate the Nativity Scene and light the Christmas tree, that will be on display in Saint Peter’s Square throughout the Christmas season. The inauguration ceremony will take place at 6:30 p.m., on 7 December.
On Thursday morning, 5 December, a mosaic depicting Christ Pantocrator, made by young people with disabilities and their teachers, was officially inaugurated in the Vatican Gardens. The impressive mosaic was the result of a collaboration with the mosaics laboratory of the Centro di Riabilitazione Ada “Ceschin Pilone” (rehabilitation centre) of the Institute of the Trinitarian Fathers of Venosa-Bernalda. Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, presided over the inauguration ceremony.
A new mobile post office has been inaugurated in Saint Peter’s Square, just a few days before the opening of the Holy Door.
The inauguration ceremony, with the symbolic handing over of the keys and the signing of the Act of Donation, took place on Thursday morning, 19 December.
Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and the General Manager of Poste Italiane, Giuseppe Lasco, cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony and signed the Act of Donation. Poste Italiane commissioned the project for the new post office to Amdl Circle and to the architect Michele De Lucchi, and then donated it to the Governorate.
Brother Thomas Binish Mulackal, of the Fatebenefratelli Order (Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God), inaugurated an over-the-counter pharmacy in the Charlemagne Wing of Saint Peter’s Square on Monday morning, 16 December. Fr. Iulian Misariu, OFM Conv., Chaplain, blessed the premises for the occasion.
On Friday morning, 14 June, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, blessed and inaugurated the Library of the Third Lodge of the Apostolic Palace after the completion of restoration works carried out by the Governorate’s Directorates for Infrastructure and Services, of Telecommunication and Information Systems and of Museums and Cultural Heritage.
The new “San Francesco e Santa Chiara” (Saints Francis and Clare) nursery school inside Vatican City will be inaugurated on Monday, April 14, at 5:00 p.m. The premises will be blessed by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President Emeritus of the Governorate of the Vatican City State. Among others present are Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate, the two General Secretaries, Archbishop Emilio Nappa, and Atty. Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, and Fr. Franco Fontana, Coordinator of the Chaplains of the Directorates and Central Offices.
From the Deposition of Christ by Andrea Mantegna to twelve other works, this artistic and spiritual journey unfolds through the images of the Virgin Mary’s life.
Art, culture and the Jubilee can be opportunities for solidarity and support to people affected by natural disasters, like the DANA storm system that struck Valencia. The exhibition titled, “Bernini’s Souls”, which was inaugurated on Tuesday afternoon, 19 November, at the Vatican Museums, by Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and by H.E. Ms. Maria María Isabel Celaá Diéguez, Ambassador of Spain to the Holy See, is an expression of the close relationship between artistic masterpieces and charity. In his address, Cardinal Vérgez Alzaga expressed his sympathy to those affected by the “disastrous DANA storm system of 29 October, which devasted the Region of Valencia and other regions in Spain, last week, including Malaga and Granada”, and ensured his prayers for the victims.
The official inauguration of the new photovoltaic system in the Cortile delle Corazze at the entrance of the Vatican Museums,marks a step forward on the journey towards obtaining energy from renewable resources, in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and to respect our Common Home.
Completed in record time almost on the eve of the Jubilee Year, a new photovoltaic system has been installed in the Cortile delle Corazze in the entrance of the Vatican Museums and will produce electric energy from a renewable resource.
Thanks to the precious contribution of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, and after delicate restoration works that lasted almost five years. the celebrated and priceless sculpture dating back to the early decades of the second century, is now open to public viewing again.
The World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA-24) was inaugurated on Tuesday morning, 15 October, at Bharat Mandapam, in New Delhi, India, and will conclude on 24 October. A Vatican Delegation, led by Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Secretary General of the Governorate, is participating in the Assembly.
The beautiful tapestry, “The Stoning of Saint Stephen”, by Raffaello Sanzio, will be on display in the Sala dei Papi (Hall of Popes) of Castel Gandolfo’s Pontifical Palace, while the painting, “The Adoration of the Child”, by Domenico Bigordi, known as Ghirlandaio, will be on display in the Palace’s lower floor, along with four paintings of the Nativity by Masters of the 15th century.
Katia Passerini is the 27th President of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. At her inauguration and the beginning of her mandate—held on the afternoon of Friday, September 26, at the McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane (Washington State)—Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, was present to deliver the Keynote Address in English, which we publish in full below, along with our Italian translation.
On Wednesday, March 25, a delegation led by the CEO of Poste Albania, Etien Xhafaj, visited the headquarters of Vatican Post, where they were welcomed by the Director of Telecommunications and Information Systems, Antonino Intersimone, and the Head of the Postal and Philatelic Service, Rev. Felice Bruno.
Attraverso la Dottrina Sociale, la Chiesa presenta “la sua risposta alle questioni etiche sollevate nel tempo dalle società e interpreta i valori morali delle attività sociali, compresa la leadership umana, offrendo principi guida, non soluzioni tecniche, coerenti con la visione evangelica della vita”. Così Suor Raffaella Petrini, Segretario Generale del Governatorato dello Stato della Città del Vaticano, intervenendo alla Keeley Vatican Lecture, mercoledì 1° novembre 2023, presso il Nanovic Institute for European Studies dell'Università Notre Dame, negli Stati Uniti d'America.
In their commitment to defending the faith and serving the poor, the Knights of the Order of Malta become “pilgrims of hope” in a complex and divided world. This was emphasized by Sr. Raffaella Petrini, President of the Governorate of Vatican City State, during the Mass for the investiture of new members of the American Association of the Order of Malta, led by its President, Kenneth Craig. The celebration was presided over by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Friday afternoon, November 14. Among those present at the rite were several members of the Sovereign Council.
On the first anniversary of the election of Leo XIV to the Chair of Peter — on May 8, the day of the Supplication to the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii — the Postal and Philately Service of the Directorate of Telecommunications and Information Systems of the Governorate of Vatican City State has issued a stamp and a special die emissionis postmark.
Wearing a red t-shirt and a backpack on his shoulders, with a gentle smile that expresses his love of life, the serene portrait is of 15-year old Carlo Acutis immersed in nature on Mount Subasio, near Assisi, during one of his last field trips before his untimely death. It is the image reproduced on the postage stamp dedicated to the canonization of Carlo Acutis on April 27.
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