‘More Sublime Than Ever’
St. Peter’s Baldacchino, newly restored with K of C support, is unveiled at synod’s closing Mass
By Cecilia Hadley 10/28/2024
Hundreds of bishops gather in St. Peter’s Basilica for the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops on synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 27, days after scaffolding was removed from the Bernini baldacchino. (Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)
The closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops on synodality was celebrated Oct. 27 in St. Peter’s Basilica under the newly restored Bernini baldacchino, now free of scaffolding and gleaming brightly after a monthslong cleaning and preservation project supported by the Knights of Columbus.
The 10-story canopy over the high altar, constructed over the tomb of St. Peter in the 17th century, was last restored more than 250 years ago. Since late February, experts have been methodically removing centuries of dust and grime from the massive bronze and wood structure and its many gilded details. They finished ahead of schedule, allowing the baldacchino to be unveiled at the close of the synod instead of, as originally projected, in conjunction with the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope.
Pope Francis drew attention to the restored baldacchino — or baldachin — in his homily at the closing Mass.
“As we admire the majestic Bernini Baldachin, more sublime than ever,” the pope said, “we can rediscover that it frames the true focal point of the entire basilica, namely the glory of the Holy Spirit. This is the synodal Church: a community whose primacy lies in the gift of the Spirit, who makes us all brothers and sisters in Christ and raises us up to him.”
At the conclusion of Mass, the Chair of St. Peter — the ancient throne that tradition holds belonged to the first pope — was placed in front of the high altar for Pope Francis, the bishops and the faithful to venerate.
In his homily, the pope urged the bishops to contemplate the Chair with the “wonder of faith” and to “remember that this is the Chair of love, unity and mercy, according to Jesus’ command to the Apostle Peter not to lord it over others, but to serve them in charity.”
Pope Francis prays before the Chair of St. Peter, placed in front of the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, after the closing Mass of the Synod of Bishops on synodality at the Vatican on Oct. 27. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Normally enclosed in a bronze sculpture at the basilica’s Altar of the Chair of St. Peter, the relic is being displayed for the first time since 1867 while the massive bronze altarpiece, also by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, is restored with support from the Knights.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, Supreme Chaplain Archbishop William Lori and the other Supreme Officers, in Rome to review the completed restoration of the baldacchino, had the opportunity to venerate the Chair of St. Peter privately on Oct. 24. The same day, they climbed the scaffolding that now encases the Chair of St. Peter sculpture and donned hard hats and safety harnesses to view the baldacchino’s upper reaches from lifts high above the basilica floor.
“The baldacchino brings together two realities,” the supreme knight said. “The reality that God comes to dwell with us, to be with us, and the reality that we are called to raise our hearts and our minds to him in prayer and in gratitude.”
The Knights has supported numerous restoration projects undertaken by the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the institution responsible for maintaining the basilica, over the past four decades.
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, expressed his gratitude for the “marvelous and productive collaboration that unites our institutions” in an address at the 142nd Supreme Convention in Québec City this summer.
Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly, his wife, Vanessa, and other K of C leaders gather Oct. 24 at the top of the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter with some of the experts who are now restoring the altarpiece with support from the Knights. (Photo by Tamino Petelinšek)
“Much has been and is being accomplished in St. Peter’s Basilica, thanks to generous financial support from the esteemed Order of the Knights of Columbus, a support silently offered in the highest spirit of service to the Church and to the pontiff, which is also showing its fruits in the preparation of the great jubilee we are marching toward,” Cardinal Gambetti said Aug. 6 at the States Dinner.
The Knights, said Dr. Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Artistic Heritage Section of the Fabbrica, “accompany us in this adventure of conservation to give back to future generations this beauty.”
f the baldacchino restoration, Supreme Knight Kelly said, “The Knights of Columbus have always been in service to the Catholic family and to the Church, and this project is really an expression of our loyalty to the universal church but also to the successor of Peter, Pope Francis.”
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CECILIA HADLEY is editorial director in the communications department of the Knights of Columbus.