Dear Father Angelo,

I have so many questions I’d like to ask, but I’ll limit myself to one that has been on my mind for several years now, to which I have not yet found a satisfactory answer despite searching extensively, both on my own and online.

Why is the Vatican, in particular St Peter’s Basilica and the Pope, located in Rome, and therefore in Italy? I am not referring to the obvious historical considerations, namely Rome’s central role at the time of the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ to Earth. My question takes a more long-term perspective; it could be rephrased as follows: why has Divine Providence chosen us Italians, of all people, to safeguard nothing less than the central place of Christianity in the world, throughout the centuries? Does it all lose its significance the moment one emphasises the importance Rome held at the time of the Church’s formation, or can this centrality of Rome – and therefore of Italy and the Italians – be carried forward into the centuries to come?

I am one of the many people of Italian origin living abroad, and I will probably never return to live in my homeland. I have children who hold Italian passports and speak the language to a limited extent, but who in reality belong to the rest of the world. I am abroad because the chances of building a decent life in Italy, of making the most of my husband’s and my own talents, and of securing a proper future for our children, were slim to none. I’m happy abroad; I don’t suffer from homesickness. However, since my eldest daughter started school, I’ve been reflecting on the privilege of being Italian, particularly with regard to the education system which, despite its many flaws, gave me that enormous gift: the study of Latin and Greek. A privilege not taken for granted abroad, which my children may not have, despite living in an area with the best schools and universities in the world, but which are now focused on the intense and exclusive study of technology and scientific subjects (but only in their most technical aspects and those immediately applicable to the world of work). This and so many other little things that, with hindsight, I realise are missing outside Italy lead me to believe, from a Christian perspective, that although we are a ramshackle nation, we are also the people to whom God has given a great gift, because, despite everything, the Pope is here with us. I know that the Lord cares for everything and everyone, but I cannot help but imagine that He has a special concern for the fate of Italy and the Italians, and that therefore, as Italians, even when we live abroad, we perhaps have a particular mission and responsibility. (…). 

I apologise if these thoughts seem rather rambling, but I am keen to raise my children in the best possible way, so I need to rethink my identity as an Italian living abroad from a Christian perspective. Similarly, I wish to contribute with gratitude to the foreign community to which I belong, without betraying my geographical origins. Now, perhaps, you will understand the reason behind this seemingly odd question.

Thank you for reading this; I hope I haven’t asked an annoying question!

Anna Maria

Priest’s answer

Dear Anna Maria,

1. I can only be delighted that you are proud to be Italian.

Everyone loves their homeland and their roots.

I won’t dwell on this, nor on Italy’s undeniable cultural distinctiveness, which many admire and envy.

2. I would like to address the first question: why did God choose Rome?

You are not the first to ask this question.

Wondering why God chose Bethlehem as the place of Christ’s birth, St Thomas quotes a passage from a sermon at the Council of Ephesus, which reads: ‘If Christ had chosen Rome, the most powerful city, one might have thought that he would have changed the world through the power of his fellow citizens. If he had been the son of the Emperor, his success would have been attributed to imperial power.

But “to show that the world would be transformed by his divinity, he chose a poor mother and an even poorer homeland” (Theodore of Ancyra, Sermon 1).

3. Similarly, “to better manifest his power, he established the centre of his Church in Rome, the capital of the world, as a sign of complete victory, so that from there the faith could spread throughout the earth, in accordance with Isaiah’s prophecy: ‘The lofty city he brings down; it is trampled underfoot by the needy, by the footsteps of the poor.’ (Is 26:5f); the feet of the poor are the feet of Christ, and the footsteps of the destitute are those of the apostles Peter and Paul” (Summa Theologica, III, 35, 7, ad 3).

4. This is perfectly in line with what Saint Paul had already said: ‘Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something” (1 Cor 1, 26–28).

5. St Paul mentions three categories of people: the wise, the powerful and the noble.

Although there were also the wise, the powerful and the noble in the early Christian communities, the majority of Christians belonged to the lower classes of society. Tacitus reports that the pagans reproached the Church for being composed of poor people, slaves, craftsmen, … (cf. Annals, XV,44).

6. If the Gospel had been human wisdom, Jesus would have addressed the wise above all.

Instead, it is characteristic of divine wisdom to address the poor and the simple above all, so that it may be made clear that everything is accomplished by the power of God.

Thus was fulfilled what the prophet Isaiah had foretold: “The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the lowly, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners” (Is 61,1).

7. A distinction must be made between the Vatican and the Holy See, or the See of St Peter.

The Vatican is a hill situated in the heart of Rome.

The Apostolic See, the Holy See, on the other hand, was established by St Peter.

Although the Holy See is based in the Vatican, it is nevertheless linked to the Basilica of St John Lateran, which stands on the Caelian Hill.

Wishing you a peaceful and Holy Christmas, I bless you and keep you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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