WAC members from 8 countries meeting in Rome plus 6 other countries linked in by ZOOM
Dr Thomas Plankensteiner, one of the three authors of the KirchenVolksBegehren in Austria, speaks to the unaugural gathering of We Are Church International in Rome in 1996
Leaders of the worldwide We Are Church network are in Rome from 25 to 31 October 2021 to celebrate 25 years of working together to achieve change in the institutional Church.
Monday and Tuesday
Early arrivals for the celebrations have been out and about in Rome visiting various historic locations including the Colosseum and the Vatican Museum
Tuesday afternoon
Gert, We Are Church Austria, and Colm, Chairperson of We Are Church International await refreshment after their explorations, undaunted by the rain
Wednesday - 27 October 2021
Commemoration Stone
for the Catacomb Pact
Gotlind talks about the Catecomb Pact
Gotlind talking about the Catacomb Pact
Catacomb of St Domitilla
In 1965, at the end of Vatican II, Bishops gathered in the St Domitilla chapel to sign the Alliance of the Catacombs pledging Evangelical Poverty. Pope Francis and bishops affirmed this in 2015
Papst Pius IX, dem wir die unfehlbarkeit des Papstes zu verdanken haben.
Looking down the nave
Baldacchino
Bernini family tomb
Blessing devotional items
Visit to St Maria Maggiore.
Santa Maria Maggiore is proclaimed by most scholars as the second most beautiful church in Rome. Only St. Peter’s Basilica itself is said to be more grandiose. One of the four major basilicas in Rome, it was the first church to be dedicated to the Virgin Mary and possesses a rich history. Pope Sixtus III built the present church in 431 AD to honor Mary,
An early medieval titular church and minor basilica near St Maria Maggiore The church incorporates mosaic decoration that marks it among the oldest churches in Rome.
Mosaics show St Praxides as a close worker with St Paul, and St Pudentia as a close worker with St Peter. They were murdered for arranging burial for early Christian martyrs. Also present is a mosaic of Episcopa Theodora, mother of Pope Paschal I. It is debated whether she was an actual bishop or the wife of a bishop.
St Praxides with St Paul
St Pudentia with St Peter
Episcopa Theodora
L-R: Theodora, St Praxides, Mary-mother of Jesus, St Pudentia
