Four hundred years after its consecration, St. Peter’s Basilica is getting a 21st-century upgrade, with the Vatican unveiling plans for AI-powered translation services, expanded pilgrim access and high-tech structural monitoring as part of yearlong anniversary celebrations.
Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope May 8 and took the name Pope Leo XIV.
The casket bearing the body of Pope Francis made its final journey through the streets of Rome accompanied by applause and shouts of gratitude from thousands of mourners.
After an estimated 250,000 people had passed by the body of Pope Francis, lying in an open casket in front of the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, the casket was sealed in a private ceremony.
After the casket bearing Pope Francis’ body was placed in St. Peter’s Basilica, tens of thousands of mourners lined up to pay their respects.
Thousands of people had made an early morning pilgrimage to St. Peter’s Square April 23 to witness the transfer and pray for the late pope; they erupted in applause when his body, in an open casket, reached the square and again when it reached the top of the basilica steps.
Pope Francis made another surprise appearance in St. Peter’s Square at the end of Palm Sunday Mass on April 13, starting Holy Week.
Pope Francis’ surprise visit to St. Peter’s Basilica to pray and see ongoing restoration work is a clear sign that his condition is improving, the Vatican press office said. The 88-year-old pope, pushed in a wheelchair by his nurse and using a nasal cannula to deliver supplemental oxygen, entered the basilica just before 1 p.m. April 10. Vatican News said he went to the basilica to pray at the tomb of St. Pius X.
Students around the world now have a chance to be an explorer-restorer of 519-year-old St. Peter’s Basilica thanks to a new online educational opportunity.
The Vatican is seeking to draw pilgrims to the four historic papal basilicas scattered around Rome — not physically, but virtually, through a website and podcast aimed at drawing young people into the spiritual depth of Rome’s sacred spaces.
