Act 7 | Italy :: Rome

I wanted to visit Rome for at least a couple of reasons: 1) the biblical record leaves Paul imprisoned in Rome (& is therefore a natural end-point for a pilgrimage such as my own); and 2) I wanted to see 'Catholicism Central' for myself.


I reckon being a christian and failing to have any appreciation for the Catholic Church is really not much different to despising the collective womb of your ancestors.

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Here are a handful of observations from the streets of Rome:

Roman beggars are more humble (and willing to respect your personal space) than beggars elsewhere;

Romans dress better for weddings;


Roman gelati doesn't lie - all the flavours taste exactly like they say they will;


Cheap Italian wine is way better than cheap New Zealand wine (and can be used to make new friends, who might even offer to cook you dinner);


Rome is a romantic city, especially by the river, and especially at night, which kinda sucks if you're travelling alone;

(Insert interesting female here!)

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There are artefacts from the Roman empire every which way you wander.


The Colosseum is colossal. (It makes me wonder how many of our stadiums will still be standing, and looking good, in the year 4000.)



On my right (in the photo above) is the Arch of Constantine, built early in the 4th Century CE to commemorate the Battle of Milvian Bridge, which Constantine won after receiving a vision of a Christian symbol the night before (?). (This event set the wheels in motion that eventually led to the Roman empire embracing the Christian faith, which forever changed the face of the Church, for better and for worse.)

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Rome is another 'city within a city' - old in new - which hosts a large number of incredible church buildings; They are free to enter and awesome in scope. (This city must be right up there with Adelaide when competing for the ultimate ‘city of churches’ title.)

Mamertine Prison

This little chapel really surprised me, I wasn't (and still am not entirely) convinced that it really is the place that the Apostle Paul and Peter were held in before being martyred by the Emperor, but there is a real tangible presence that smacks you in the face the moment you step into the small cell beneath the chapel floor.

The Pantheon

Basilica di San Clemente

They didn't allow photographs to be taken in this building, but it really is 'a must see' because it is three churches build on top of one another: the first was a simple house church from the earliest days of Christian faith in Rome; the second was built in the 4th Century when Rome was more favourably disposed to the faith (it hosted a number of important church synods during its lifetime; the third was built in the 12th Century because the former church was seriously damaged when the city was sacked by the Normans. (It's 'the Russian doll' of the Roman pilgrim churches.)

San Giovanni in Laterano (Basilica of St_ John Lateran)

Santa Maria Maggiore (Saint Mary Major)

Santa Prassede

While gazing at the truly beautiful 'Madonna & Child' mosaic above, I learned to look past the inappropriate deification of the mother to see instead the incredible mystery of the incarnated child (God adopting human form), which will help me to further enjoy all such images in the future.

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem)

This church has some unbelievable holy relics, including a piece of the board hung above Jesus head when he was crucified, and a bone from the finger of doubting Thomas (that is understood to have been placed in the wounds of the resurrected saviour. (These relics are ornately mounted in the picture below.)


I've decided that relics, even if not the genuine articles, are cool because they remind us that Jesus lived & died and was resurrected in real space & time, and interacted with the common things in life, such as wood, nails and people.

Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

The pilgrimage through Europe was beneficial if for no other reason than I made my peace with the Apostle Paul (in a prayerful moment in the church built around his grave after reading the letter he sent to Church of Rome); Let it be known, Paul and I are tight again.


(Contrary to what you have probably been believing (based on my past posts) I've struggled to like Paul for more than a few years now; But retracing his missionary steps has helped me to see him as someone truly worthy of admiration. He was a man with an irrepressible will to please his Maker and spread the gracious love of God abroad. Re-reading his letters, helped me to see that my real beef is with those who have (in recent history) interpreted his work in reductionist fashion and thereby constructed a form of Christianity that is according distorted and destructive. I'm talking about the form of Christianity that holds that you just need to believe with your mind that you're a sinner, that Jesus is God, then wait around for the world to end and heaven to kick off, in order to be considered a true follower of Jesus. Looking at Paul's work again, I can see that he understood that there is both much mystery and mysticism in Christian faith a proper, and that we much match correcting thinking with the kind of correcting acting that promotes the cause of justice in our lifetime & locality, creating the kind of world that God always intended this place to be.)

St_ Peter's Basilica (Vatican City)

I attended a Sunday morning mass in the most revered church in all Catholicism, which landed me on the preferable side of the fence that separated the worshippers ('in the house') from the spectators. (No, I didn't 'risk' taking communion as a non-catholic when given the opportunity.)

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Nearly all the churches are free to enter, some have a suggested donation amount (like the toilets in the photo below, these toilets also helpfully had instructions for what to do if you didn't want to pay for the privilege posted on the roof above the sign requesting donations), most churches didn't expect anything more than a meditative and respectful disposition.


I wasn't keen to add to the wealth of the catholic church with my few coins, not even to power up one of their new fan dangle electric candles.



The switch from wax candles to electronic candles at many of their alters fascinated me, and I still don't know what to think about it all: Partly because I don't know which is really more eco-friendly (power-efficient/carbon footprint diminishing), but more so because it offends my sense of authenticity, beauty, and symbolic ritual. (The temporary lifespan of a candle, which is consumed by the flickering fire, as we offer our prayers up to a God who instructs us to 'cast all our anxieties upon Him,' seems so much more satisfying and 'real' than the modern plastic & steel representation.)



The electric candles are certainly less mess (and are therefore probably no more than a move prompted by ugly pragmatics).

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I got to exchanged waves with the Pope (top window second in from the right in the photo below) while in town, who was also just in from a trip through the holy lands. (Unfortunately a misunderstanding between his people and my own prevented us from exchanging travel tales over a beer like we had planned.)

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My final day in Rome, and in a sense, on pilgrimage, was spent in the Vatican Museum.



It was disappointing to see the masses, who only had eyes for the Sistine Chapel, rushing past Jesus in great works of art.




One of the things I enjoyed most about being in the Vatican Museum on my last day in Rome was looking at works of art depicting places that I had recently visited, like the image of Jacob's Well in Shechem, where the pilgrimage began.