Daily Rome Shot: 40

2 Comments

1. ThePapalCount says:

   4 January 2021 at 5:01 PM

   FrZ I am familiar with this statue and its location but I confess I know nothing of the person depicted other than he was a priest. But, I would pass this statue every time I would visit or attend Mass at the Chiesa Nuovo, the church which was built by St Philip Neri and whose body is entombed there. Philip’s “new church” is only a block away and I recommend the church to any visitor to Rome. If you know little of Philip Neri read up before you visit the beautiful church which is 500 years old and still called the “New Church”.
2. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf says:

   4 January 2021 at 5:09 PM

   Nicola Spedalieri was an interesting guy. He wrote around the time of the American Revolution in the pontificate of Pius VI about the intersection of church and state, religious freedom, in contrast to the “Rights of Man” stuff growing in Europe. This statue was once in the area in front of Sant’Andrea della Valle and, at the time it was put up, was super controversial, so much so that pieces were written about the public debate in the once less disgusting La Civiltà Cattolica. He is buried in Ss. Michele e Magno near San Pietro.

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