Italiano
The blood of Pope John Paul II arrives in Naples. From January 24 to 26, the parish of Santa Maria Apparente at Corso Vittorio Emanuele host the relic with the blood of Karol Wojtyla, who will be canonized by Pope Francis on April 27th.
Three days of celebrations, animated by the parish priest Father Renato de Simone, will accompany the faithful who want to pray before the blood of the unforgettable Pontiff who in 1990 chose the city of Partenope for its longest pastoral visit in Italy leaving so many memories in people of Naples (his image stands out for decades on the stalls of the figurines in San Gregorio Armeno). A visit strongly supported by the then Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Michele Giordano, who right from the Polish Pope received the red hat in 1988 after being appointed by him, the previous year, the leadership of the diocese of Naples.
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The church chosen to host the holy relic of John Paul is going quite old, in fact, to the sixteenth century. It was founded in 1571 by Father Filippo da Perugia to accommodate the sacred image of the Virgin and further expanded during the seventeenth century. The original project was entrusted to the architect Giovan Battista Cavagna.
The dedication of the “temple” in Santa Maria Apparente finds confirmation in a tombstone dating back to 1624, but according to tradition the title of “apparent” was chosen by the people, after some fishermen, scattered in the sea in a stormy night , they saw “appear” a miraculous light right from the hill on which stands the present church of Corso Vittorio Emanuele. A few steps from the parish is what was once a convent, then transformed into a prison (was imprisoned, among others, the writer and patriot Luigi Settembrini), then in the “Palace of the Officers” and is now used as private homes.
Church of Santa Maria Apparente
Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 196 Napoli
tel. +39.081.400751
