Anglicans in Rome

Canonisation

This Sunday the 14th of October, while Pope Francis declared Archbishop Oscar Romero and Pope Paul VI, among others, to be saints, I decided to do the 'Anglican Sunday tour.' Not that I was disinterested in the Roman Catholic ceremony but the fact that to get a seat I should be at St Peter's at least three hours before the Mass just to endure a considerably high temperature made me lose my enthusiasm. Anyway, the Anglican Communion was well represented by several bishops and lay people who travelled from afar to show their support to the Salvadoran martyr Oscar Romero.

The Anglican and Methodist representatives with Bishop Brian Farrell from the Pontifical Committee for the Promotion of Christian Unity. (picture from the Anglican Centre in Rome)

All Saints'

My first stop was at All Saints', an Anglican church under the Church of England's Diocese of Europe. The neo-gothic spacious building dates from the year 1883 and is a convenient 2-minute walk from the famous Spanish Steps. All Saints' offers two Sunday morning services: one at 8:30 and the other at 10:30. Having decided to attend the latter, I was able to take part in a moderate Anglo-Catholic Eucharist together with other sixty communicants. The guest speaker was the Rev. Susan Skinner, serving in the Episcopal Church of the United States, one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in the Anglican Communion.

I met people not only from Britain but also from the United States, India and Russia. I am sure I missed nationals from other countries, as the congregation seemed quite diverse. On that Sunday I was able to count at least ten people who were visiting the church for the first time. Nevertheless, the most illustrious visitor to this church was Pope Francis who participated in an ecumenical service to mark the 200th anniversary of the Anglican presence in Rome and blessed an icon specially commissioned to mark the occasion.

St Paul's Within the Walls

Soon after the service ended, I headed to another Anglican church. I didn't want to miss their 12:30 special service. This time I had to face a hilly 20 minute-walk and a throng of tourists coming in the opposite direction to visit the church in Trinità dei Monti and the nearby Fontana di Trevi. Eventually, I got to St Paul's Within the Walls. From the outside, the building reminded me of the Florentine architectural style. Once I entered the temple, I was stunned by the frescoes and the mosaics just above the sanctuary. This could be easily considered a basilica if it were not the fact that the people who worship here are not under Rome. This church is known for the several classical music concerts it holds throughout the year. (I wish I could stay in Rome longer to attend some of them!)

Every Sunday there is a Eucharist in English at 10:30 AM and - this is the special treat - there is a Eucharist in Spanish at 12:30. In a conversation with Fr Ricardo, an Ecuadorian, I learnt that they have been serving the Latin-American community for 26 years. I also found out that the parish rector, what we would call in England the vicar, Fr Austin Ríos, an American, has also Mexican blood running in his veins. We weren't many - just 15 people - but we were good. I had the chance to sing some well known Spanish hymns and eventually I took communion for the second time in less than two hours... I think my conscience was torturing me for having skipped the canonisation; so, I had to balance out my 'fault' with a double portion of Christ's Body and Blood. After the Mass, I enjoyed a copious Ecuadorian meal and had the chance to speak with some sisters and understand what it is like to be a Latin-American in Rome. Not easy, I can tell you.

Having my spirit and my belly full, I decided once more to worn out the shoes by returning on foot to the Beda. After all, it was only an hour and a quarter away, and I had the chance to burn out all the rice, beans and fried fish I had earlier.

The Anglican Centre in Rome

Then the great day came! After attending the morning lectures, I left the college to participate in the Eucharist at the Anglican Centre in Rome. I was slightly more nervous than the previous occasions I had been there. And I have to blame Bishop Bernard, the Centre's Director, and Rev. Justin Lewis-Anthony, the Deputy Director, for the invitation to preach. Saint Augustine of Canterbury's chapel was full, mainly by Anglican pilgrims who attended Archbishop Romero's canonisation. In the congregation, I was able to spot seven Anglican priests and a Methodist minister. So, no pressure whatsoever to deliver a good sermon. I preached on the freedom we can find in serving Christ and the other. From seeing people's reaction and after being complimented by a handful of congregants, I reckon I did a good job.

Two Sweet Moments

After the service I chatted with several people, some of them Latin-Americans. I suppose it was a long time since the Anglican Centre's walls have heard a conversation in Spanish. Then the first sweet moment of the day occurred: one of the pilgrims, a Salvadoran, presented me with a lapel pin with the symbol of the Anglican Communion. I will wear it with love and pride from now on, as a remembrance of the remarkable time spent as an Anglican in Rome. The second sweet moment of the day was the time spent with Marthe, a lovely talkative eighty-year-old Dutch lady. I discovered she had been in Portugal in the sixties, during the dictatorship, and how she found difficult to learn the language. Things became a little easier when she moved to Brazil and was seduced by sugary Portuguese spoken in South-America. We showed each other family pictures and exchanged contacts. We also got to know each other's path until becoming Anglicans. What a delight! We sealed our new-made friendship with a kiss and with the hope to meet again either in London or the Netherlands.

St Gregory's

Overlooking the circus maximus, on the Caelian Hill, there is a Roman Catholic church very dear to Anglicans where they can traceback much of their history: San Gregorio Magno al Celio, St Gregory the Great's. The church is administered by the monks of the Camaldolese branch of the Benedictine Order. 'The church had its beginning as a simple oratory added to a family villa suburbana of Pope Gregory I, who converted the villa into a monastery, ca 575-80, before his election as pope (590). Saint Augustine of Canterbury was prior of the monastery before leading the Gregorian mission to the Anglo-Saxons seven years later.' (in Wikipedia).

In 2012 the Camaldolesean monks celebrated their 1000th anniversary, to which Pope Benedict XVI and Rowan Williams, then the Archbishop of Canterbury, were invited to lead an Evening Prayer service. One can find in the church what is supposed to be Gregory's throne and also a Canterbury cross engraved in one of the pillars of the church to celebrate the link between Rome and Canterbury.