The Pantheon has been a place of worship, first as a temple, and then as a church, for 2,000 years (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
During this time in the Church Calendar known as Ordinary Time, I am taking some time each morning to reflect in these ways:
1, photographs of a church or place of worship;
2, the day’s Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the prayer diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).
This week my photographs are from seven churches in Rome, and my photographs this morning (7 July 2021) are of the Pantheon, or Santa Maria ad Martyres (Saint Mary and the Martyrs), often known Santa Maria Rotonda.
Light from the oculus moves around the Pantheon in a reverse sundial effect (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
The Pantheon is Rome’s best-preserved ancient temple, and has been in continuous use, first as a temple, and then as a church, throughout its 2000-year history. This magnificent building has an awe-inspiring dome, and for many people it is a symbol of Rome itself.
Although the Pantheon is now a church, this is a former Roman temple, first built by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of his father-in-law Augustus (27 BC-14 AD). The present building was completed by the Emperor Hadrian (118-125 AD) and was dedicated ca 126 AD.
This is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings, and it has been in continuous use throughout its history.
The building is circular with a portico of large granite Corinthian columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment. A rectangular vestibule links the porch to the rotunda, which is under a coffered concrete dome, with an oculus or central opening to the sky.
Now, 2,000 years after it was first built, the dome of the Pantheon remains the world’s largest dome not built of reinforced concrete. The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres, so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube. The dimensions make more sense when expressed in ancient Roman units of measurement: the dome spans 150 Roman feet and the the oculus is 30 Roman feet in diameter.
The interior of the dome was possibly intended to symbolise the arched vault of the heavens. The oculus at the dome’s apex and the entry door are the only natural sources of light in the interior. Throughout the day, the light from the oculus moves around this space in a reverse sundial effect. The oculus also serves as a cooling and ventilation method. During storms, a drainage system below the floor handles the rain that falls through the oculus.
Brick arches embedded in the structure of the wall act as internal buttresses, distributing the weight of the dome.
The name of the Pantheon is derived from the Ancient Greek Pantheion (Πάνθειον), either because the statues of so many gods were once placed around this building, or because the dome resembles the heavens. Another explanation that is now questioned says the original temple was dedicated to all the gods.
The inscription on the front of the temple which reads: M-Agrippa-L-F-Cos-Tertium-Fecit, M[arcus] Agrippa L[ucii] f[ilius] co[n]s[ul] tertium fecit ‘Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, made [this building] when consul for the third time.’
However, the first Augustan Pantheon built by Agrippa was completely destroyed by fire, except for the façade, in the year 80 AD. Domitian rebuilt the Pantheon, but it was burnt again in 110 AD. The present building probably dates from 114, four years after the temple was destroyed by that second fire.
In 202, the building was repaired by the joint emperors Septimius Severus and his son Caracalla.
Since the seventh century, the Pantheon has been used as a church dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs, but known informally as Santa Maria Rotonda. In 609, the Byzantine Emperor Phocas gave the building to Pope Boniface IV, who converted it into a church dedicated to Saint Mary and the Martyrs It is said 28 cartloads of relics of martyrs were removed from the catacombs and placed in a porphyry basin beneath the high altar.
The conversion of the temple into a church may have saved the building from being abandoned and falling into ruin. Yet, much fine external marble has been removed over the centuries, and capitals from some of the pilasters are in the British Museum in London.
During the Papal exile in Avignon, the Pantheon was used as a fortress and a poultry market, but it became a church once again when the Popes returned to Rome.
At his own request, the painter Raphael was buried in the Pantheon when he died in 1520. The inscription on his sarcophagus of Raphael says it holds his ossa et cineres or ‘bones and ashes.’ He had lived for many years with his model and lover, La Firnarina, but he turned her away from his deathbed and she was kept away from his burial. His fiancée, Maria Bibbiena, a niece of his patron, Cardinal Dovizi di Bibbiena, is buried to the right of his sarcophagus – she died before they could marry.
In the early 17th century, Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644) removed the bronze ceiling of the portico. Most of the bronze was used to make bombards for the fortification of Castel Sant’Angelo, and it is also said that the bronze was used by Bernini in his baldacchino or canopy above the high altar in Saint Peter’s Basilica. Pope Urban VIII also replaced the mediaeval campanile with twin towers or turrets, ridiculed as ‘the ass’s ears’ and removed the late 19th century.
The present high altars and the apses were commissioned by Pope Clement XI (1700–1721) and designed by Alessandro Specchi. On the apse above the high altar is a seventh century Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child, given by the Emperor Phocas to Pope Boniface IV in 609.
The choir, which was added in 1840, was designed by Luigi Poletti.
The marble interior has largely survived despite extensive restorations, and the marble floor, restored in 1873, preserves the original Roman design.
Along with Raphael, those buried here include painters, composers and architects, as well as two kings of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II and Umberto I, and King Umberto’s wife, Queen Margherita, and their tombs have become shrines for Italy's sad and dwindling number of royalists.
Although the Pantheon is owned by the Italian state, it continues to be used as a Catholic church, Mass is said here on Sundays and feast days, and weddings take place here from time to time.
In the Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon, the Fontana del Pantheon (was commissioned by Pope Gregory XIII. It was designed by Giacomo Della Porta in 1575 and sculpted in marble by Leonardo Sormani. In 1711, Pope Clement XI modified the fountain be modified, with Filippo Barigioni designing a new layout, including a new stone-made basin.
The Macuteo obelisk, which dates from the reign of Ramses II in Egypt, is set in the centre on a plinth with four dolphins decorating the base.
In 1886, the original marble figures were removed, and replaced with copies by Luigi Amici. Today, the originals are in the Museum of Rome.
The oculus and the entry door are the only natural sources of light in the interior of the Pantheon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Matthew 10: 1-7 (NRSVA):
10 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax-collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near”.’
Inside the Pantheon, which has been used used as a church since 609 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary:
The Prayer in the USPG Prayer Diary today (7 July 2021) invites us to pray:
Let us pray for the work of mission hospitals in Malawi. We pray for the medical teams working at Saint Luke’s Hospital in the Diocese of Upper Shire, Saint Anne’s Hospital in the Diocese of Lake Malawi and Saint Peter’s Hospital in the Diocese of North Malawi.
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
The painter Raphael was buried in the Pantheon when he died in 1520 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
The Fontana del Pantheon in the Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
07 July 2021
Who are the Christians caught in the conflict
between Israelis and Palestians?
Archbishop Hosam Elias Zakaria Naoum preaches at his consecration as the Anglican Archbishop of Jerusalem
Patrick Comerford
There is an apocryphal story about Liam Cosgrave’s address to the United Nations as the Irish Minister for External Affairs in 1956. Ireland had just joined the UN, and Cosgrave was speaking in the wake of the Suez crisis and a war between Egypt and Israel. The story says the future Taoiseach embarrassed himself and his country by calling on the Muslims and Jews in the Middle East to settle their differences like Christians.
His speech was drafted by Conor Cruise O’Brien, and Cosgrave suggested to Frederick Boland, the Irish ambassador, that the speech should include: ‘I appeal to the Jews and the Muslims to settle their differences in accordance with Christian principles.’
O’Brien pointed out that this was likely to impress neither Jews nor Muslims, and Boland told Cosgrave it would not ‘go down all that well in the Middle East.’
Cosgrave smiled enigmatically, and Boland turned to O’Brien and said: ‘It may not go down well in the Middle East, but the minister seems to think it will go down well in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.’
The words in question were not included in the actual speech, but the story has become one of the most enduring anecdotes in Irish journalism and political history. It points too to the way Christians are often marginalised by or seen as irrelevant to accounts of conflict in the Middle East.
The recent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been caricatured – by journalists and protesters – as a conflict between Jews and Muslims. In all the reports and narratives, the plight of Christians in the region was ignored and forgotten.
As the latest conflict raged, few news outlets reported the installation and enthronement of Archbishop Hosam Elias Zakaria Naoum as the 15th Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. The new bishop, who also carries the title of archbishop, was installed in Saint George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem, on Ascension Day (13 May).
Although Anglican clergy and laity from Israel and the West Bank were present, none from Jordan, Lebanon or Syria could attend. Scenes of serious disorder close to the cathedral, as well as in the mixed towns and cities inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders, were cause for great concern, while all-out confrontation in and near Gaza was causing many deaths and injuries.
The large congregation included Muslims and Jews, and Archbishop Hosam preached in both Arabic and English. He is a former dean of Saint George’s Cathedral, and a former coadjutor bishop of Jerusalem. The ecumenical guests included the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, the Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Lutheran bishop and clergy from other Christian traditions.
Archbishop Naoum soon issued an urgent appeal for financial support for Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. He said the diocese was continuing its ‘Christian mission of bringing healing to the wounded, relief to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and comfort to those who mourn the loss of loved ones.’
Archbishop Hosam Elias Zakaria Naoum with his family after his consecration in Saint George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem
The first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Michael Solomon Alexander (1799-1845), who was bishop from 1842, was ordained in Dublin by Archbishop William Magee in 1827. Today, the diocese has 7,000 Anglicans, 29 parishes, 1,500 employees and 200 hospital beds.
Palestinian Christians belong to a diversity of churches or denominations, including the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Western and Eastern Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. They are estimated to account for 20% of the 13 million Palestinians, but 70% live outside Palestine and Israel.
Estimates suggest there about 50,000 Palestinian Christians in the West Bank. There are four groupings of Christians in Israel: migrant Christians without permanent status (150,000), Palestinian Arabs who are citizens of Israel (120,000), Hebrew-speaking Christians who are sociologically part of Jewish society (40,000), and expatriate Christians working in the Church (1,000). Only 1,300 Christians are left in the Gaza Strip, and their numbers are declining rapidly on a weekly if not daily basis.
Around 50% of Palestinian Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, led by Theophilos III. The Latin Patriarch, Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is an Italian-born Franciscan. But there is a variety of churches in communion with Rome, including the Latin Rite, the Melkite Church (which has many similarities with the Greek Orthodox Church), the Maronite Church, and a branch of the Chaldean Church.
In recent years, Christians in Palestine and Israel have felt forgotten by outside Christians, and often see Christian tourists and pilgrims as interested in Biblical sites but not in the ‘Living Stones’ who are the Christians in the region today.
Prominent Christians in the ‘Holy Land’ include the theologians Naam Ateek (Anglican) of the Sabeel Foundation and Archbishop Elias Chacour (Melkite), the Palestinian negotiator Dr Hanan Ashrawi (Anglican), the writer and critic Edward Said, who was raised an Anglican but later became an agnostic, the nonviolent peace activist Mubarak Awad (Greek Orthodox), and Yasser Arafat’s widow Suha Arafat (born a Latin-rite Catholic).
During the latest conflicts, the patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem joined in expressing deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence. They said: ‘The special character of Jerusalem, the Holy City … compels all parties to preserve the already sensitive situation in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The growing tension, backed mainly by right-wing radical groups, endangers the already fragile reality in and around Jerusalem.’
The patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have joined in expressing deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence
This full-page feature is published in the July/August 2021 edition of ‘Newslink,’ the Diocesan Magazine of the United Dioceses of Limerick, Killaloe and Clonfert (p 4)
Patrick Comerford
There is an apocryphal story about Liam Cosgrave’s address to the United Nations as the Irish Minister for External Affairs in 1956. Ireland had just joined the UN, and Cosgrave was speaking in the wake of the Suez crisis and a war between Egypt and Israel. The story says the future Taoiseach embarrassed himself and his country by calling on the Muslims and Jews in the Middle East to settle their differences like Christians.
His speech was drafted by Conor Cruise O’Brien, and Cosgrave suggested to Frederick Boland, the Irish ambassador, that the speech should include: ‘I appeal to the Jews and the Muslims to settle their differences in accordance with Christian principles.’
O’Brien pointed out that this was likely to impress neither Jews nor Muslims, and Boland told Cosgrave it would not ‘go down all that well in the Middle East.’
Cosgrave smiled enigmatically, and Boland turned to O’Brien and said: ‘It may not go down well in the Middle East, but the minister seems to think it will go down well in Dún Laoghaire Rathdown.’
The words in question were not included in the actual speech, but the story has become one of the most enduring anecdotes in Irish journalism and political history. It points too to the way Christians are often marginalised by or seen as irrelevant to accounts of conflict in the Middle East.
The recent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians has been caricatured – by journalists and protesters – as a conflict between Jews and Muslims. In all the reports and narratives, the plight of Christians in the region was ignored and forgotten.
As the latest conflict raged, few news outlets reported the installation and enthronement of Archbishop Hosam Elias Zakaria Naoum as the 15th Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem. The new bishop, who also carries the title of archbishop, was installed in Saint George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem, on Ascension Day (13 May).
Although Anglican clergy and laity from Israel and the West Bank were present, none from Jordan, Lebanon or Syria could attend. Scenes of serious disorder close to the cathedral, as well as in the mixed towns and cities inside Israel’s pre-1967 borders, were cause for great concern, while all-out confrontation in and near Gaza was causing many deaths and injuries.
The large congregation included Muslims and Jews, and Archbishop Hosam preached in both Arabic and English. He is a former dean of Saint George’s Cathedral, and a former coadjutor bishop of Jerusalem. The ecumenical guests included the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, the Latin Patriarch, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Lutheran bishop and clergy from other Christian traditions.
Archbishop Naoum soon issued an urgent appeal for financial support for Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. He said the diocese was continuing its ‘Christian mission of bringing healing to the wounded, relief to those who have lost their homes and livelihoods, and comfort to those who mourn the loss of loved ones.’
Archbishop Hosam Elias Zakaria Naoum with his family after his consecration in Saint George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem
The first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Michael Solomon Alexander (1799-1845), who was bishop from 1842, was ordained in Dublin by Archbishop William Magee in 1827. Today, the diocese has 7,000 Anglicans, 29 parishes, 1,500 employees and 200 hospital beds.
Palestinian Christians belong to a diversity of churches or denominations, including the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Western and Eastern Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran churches. They are estimated to account for 20% of the 13 million Palestinians, but 70% live outside Palestine and Israel.
Estimates suggest there about 50,000 Palestinian Christians in the West Bank. There are four groupings of Christians in Israel: migrant Christians without permanent status (150,000), Palestinian Arabs who are citizens of Israel (120,000), Hebrew-speaking Christians who are sociologically part of Jewish society (40,000), and expatriate Christians working in the Church (1,000). Only 1,300 Christians are left in the Gaza Strip, and their numbers are declining rapidly on a weekly if not daily basis.
Around 50% of Palestinian Christians belong to the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, led by Theophilos III. The Latin Patriarch, Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, is an Italian-born Franciscan. But there is a variety of churches in communion with Rome, including the Latin Rite, the Melkite Church (which has many similarities with the Greek Orthodox Church), the Maronite Church, and a branch of the Chaldean Church.
In recent years, Christians in Palestine and Israel have felt forgotten by outside Christians, and often see Christian tourists and pilgrims as interested in Biblical sites but not in the ‘Living Stones’ who are the Christians in the region today.
Prominent Christians in the ‘Holy Land’ include the theologians Naam Ateek (Anglican) of the Sabeel Foundation and Archbishop Elias Chacour (Melkite), the Palestinian negotiator Dr Hanan Ashrawi (Anglican), the writer and critic Edward Said, who was raised an Anglican but later became an agnostic, the nonviolent peace activist Mubarak Awad (Greek Orthodox), and Yasser Arafat’s widow Suha Arafat (born a Latin-rite Catholic).
During the latest conflicts, the patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem joined in expressing deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence. They said: ‘The special character of Jerusalem, the Holy City … compels all parties to preserve the already sensitive situation in the Holy City of Jerusalem. The growing tension, backed mainly by right-wing radical groups, endangers the already fragile reality in and around Jerusalem.’
The patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem have joined in expressing deep concern over growing Israeli-Palestinian violence
This full-page feature is published in the July/August 2021 edition of ‘Newslink,’ the Diocesan Magazine of the United Dioceses of Limerick, Killaloe and Clonfert (p 4)
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