(Vatican Radio) “We are a people of faith but we still need to grow a lot in this
regard” says Raffaello Martinelli Bishop of Frascati. “Our diocese has not had a single
priestly vocation in over 20 years”, he reveals, “so you can imagine the desire and
the need of our families for saints, above all saints, and priests”. “Our hope is
that this coming of the Pope among us will lead to a strengthening of faith in each
of us”. Emer McCarthy reports:
Sunday July 15th, Pope Benedict XVI
will arrive among the people of one of the oldest and best loved towns of the Castelli
Romani, which populate the Alban Hills. Synonymous with wine, song and grand
summer villas, Frascati is perched on the Tuscolo hill, with a view that sweeps from
the Apennines, across Rome to the Tyrrhenian sea. Down through the centuries it has
enchanted Popes, princes and great artists. Goethe once declared it was “paradise
on earth”.
At the very heart of the old town, stands the Cathedral dedicated
to St Peter the Apostle, completed on the orders of Pope Innocent XII in 1700, just
in time to celebrate the Holy Year. Sunday morning Pope Benedict will celebrate an
open air mass in the square beneath its imposing bell towers. In fact, the baroque
façade was the only part of the church that escaped the Allied bombing of September
1943 which devastated the town. That summer, General Albert Kesselring, commander
of the German troops in Italy had established his headquarters at the nearby Villa
Falconieri.
The interior of the Cathedral is bare in comparison, but its simplicity
belies the historical treasures found within. Such as the plaque of the original tomb
of Charles Edward Stuart, more familiarly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. He was
entombed in the Frascati Cathedral at the express request of his brother Henry Benedict
Stuart. Henry was created a cardinal by Pope Benedict XIV in 1747 and went on to become
the Dean of College of Cardinals, Bishop of Frascati [where he subsequently spent
most of his life] and one of the longest serving cardinals in the history of the Church.
Today, the tomb contains only the heart of the historic Stuart prince. He along with
his brother were later buried in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, their final resting
place was designed by Antonio Canova.
In short Frascati’s history is deeply
intertwined with the Papacy and Roman Curia. Its’ importance denoted by the fact it
is one of the seven suburbicarian Sees of Rome diocese – the primary See. The titular
bishops of these seven diocese traditionally form the highest-ranking order of cardinals,
the Cardinal Bishops. In the case of Frascati, on 10 May 2008, Pope Benedict XVI
named one of his closest collaborators as its titular bishops, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone,
Vatican Secretary of State. The other suburbicarian Sees include : Ostia, Velletri-Segni,
Porto-Santa Rufina, Palestrina, Albano, Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.