Seven centuries of pilgrimages from Lazio towards Rome

Cardinal Vincenzo Fagiolo

“If procession befits Rome” (wrote Armando Ravaglioli, presenting the “Roman Almanac” last year), jubilees befit Rome And the surrounding region even more. Although other cities can boast and pride themselves of expressions and cultural memories linked to Christian Sanctuaries (Roman Almanac 1992), to woods and parks (1993), to roads (1994) and recall the sad periods of the war 1943-1994 (1996), only Rome in a unique way can present itself to the world as the initial, autonomous and original see of the Jubilees. The others are derivations, ramifications and irradiations of the Mother See, of that Rome “where even Christ is Roman”, of that Papal Rome, caput mundi, of that Urbe that alone looks and illuminates the Orbis. And the supreme and only reason lies in the reality, historic and divine institution, of Rome see of the Vicar of Christ, of the successor of Peter, of the Pastor of the Pastors, of the Servant of the servants of God, of the key-holder to the Kingdom of the heavens. If “from afar” (as Pope John Paul II said on the evening of his election) came the pilgrims, those from nearby were mush less tired but with the same faith, the same humble, modest and hopeful behaviour; from Alatri, Carpinetro, Segni, Fiorentino, Anagni, Sezze, etc. they travelled to Rome, with the desire of obtaining mercy and forgiveness at the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles. There could be no lack therefore of a history of the “Jubilees of Lazio”, which has now appeared in a volume edited by the cultural group of Rome and Lazio with the “Roman Almanac” 1999. Pilgrims from Lazio both in small groups, sometimes just relatives, and in parish or diocesan communities, nearly always and everywhere were welcomed and found support, except if they came across bandits, which were not rare especially in recent centuries. Significant was the behaviour of the inhabitants of Zagarolo who welcomed with affection the pilgrims who stopped there on their way from Alatri before resuming their journey towards Rome, in the jubilee year 1625. They kept such a happy memory that the Alatri council decreed that “the inhabitants of Zagarolo be permitted to take part in the Municipal Council… be declared immune from any kind of tax and be granted other immunities, honours, graces and privileges which belong to the citizens and nobles of Alatri…” But the “desire” to make their pilgrimage to Rome to be purified “by holy forgiveness” has always assailed and infected the whole of Lazio, from 1300 to date. We would like to close these re-evocations provided to us by distinguished experts, referring back to what was underlined at the beginning on the theological, moral, spiritual, historic and social entity that Rome represents for Christianity and how a Jubilee, an event of forgiveness and remission also of punishment for the sins committed, cannot be conceived without a significant connection to the Roman Pontiff, to whom Christ has conferred the power of the keys of salvation and to draw on the treasure of the merits of Christ to grant indulgences. These are the reflections made by A. Ravagnoli in his study “The city of Rome and Jubilees”. The first statement centres the theological and canonical problem with the intimate connection of the Jubilee with the city of Rome. The historical analysis highlights the spiritual concreteness and the strong religious impulse that dragged the pilgrims to venerate the Prince of the Apostles. Rome emerged as the lighthouse that projects light in the darkness and pre-announcement of the new Europe. Having survived the break-up of the empire around its Bishop, Rome continued to be the custodian of the most genuine civilization and culture of the capital of the empire and the guarantee of the reconquests that humanity could achieve. Mediaeval Europe was consoled by the idea of having in Rome the testimonies of its religious faith and of the value, not only religious, of the sepulchres of Peter and Paul. The values of classical culture, of the wise Greece and of the juridical knowledge of Rome, sided in the Urbe with Christian faith and irradiated in the Orbe. From the historical analysis of Jubilees celebrated in the twentieth century, and, going back to those celebrated in earlier centuries, Ravaglioli concludes that “the city of Rome seen the growth, in Catholic consideration during the last one hundred years, of the importance that stems from being the privileged place of the redeeming of faults and of spiritual clearance in the face of the great subjects of the objectives of human life. This reflection allows linking the Rome of our century to the Urbe of Boniface VIII which merits an unforgettable recognition as promoter of the image of Rome in the world”. The historical conclusion, which appears to me can be none other than unique, is that although aware of all the deviations, miseries of man and things, notes the basic insuppressible issue, that of a “noble” Rome because of its origins, not purely human, and because of its Christian heritage which it has always known how to maintain integral in comfort, to human weaknesses and for a destiny of man open to horizons beyond this world with a hope full of immortality. True and eternal Rome is here, and will not be able to be different because it has within itself the word that is way, truth, life!