January 11, 2024

Knights of Columbus to fund restoration of baldachin in St. Peter’s Basilica

REGIONAL
Staff report

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly are pictured in front of St. Peter’s baldachin in St.Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on January 10, 2024. Cardinal Gambetti and Kelly
announced that the Knights of Columbus would underwrite the complete restoration of the baldachin, the first such restoration since 1758. (Photo by Tamino Petelinsek)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Knights of Columbus is underwriting a restoration of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s iconic baldachin (Baldacchino di San Pietro in Italian) above the high altar of St. Peter’s Basilica.

The project, to be undertaken by the Fabbrica of St. Peter’s, will inspect and restore every inch of the nearly 400-year-old bronze, marble, and gilded wood structure, which rises more than nine stories above the high altar of the basilica and the tomb of the Apostle Peter. Bernini, considered one of the leading Baroque artists of his era, was commissioned by Pope Urban VIII to sculpt the baldachin.

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly emphasized the spiritual significance of the support. “On behalf of the Knights of Columbus and our more than 2 million members in 13 countries around the world, we are honored to lend our support to this project, which is more than caring for a magnificent piece of art. It points to the reality of God’s love for us and His coming down to earth to dwell with us and to build the Church upon St. Peter and his profession of faith,” Kelly said in a Jan. 11 press release.

He continued, “I’d like to thank our Holy Father, Pope Francis, as well as Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, for allowing us to partner in this project, in continuation of what is now more than a century of support for various projects in Rome, and nearly 20 projects in support of St. Peter’s over the last 44 years.

“In addition to all the service we carry out for the poor, for our parishes and families, the Knights are very grateful for the privilege of serving the Church in this way,” said Kelly.

The Knights of Columbus has enjoyed a long and enduring relationship of more than 100 years with the Vatican and the popes, beginning with Pope Benedict XV’s request that the Knights open sports fields to serve poor youth of Rome, following the First World War.

Since 1980, the Knights has sponsored 17 other restoration projects, including the cleaning of the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica in anticipation of the Jubilee Year 2000; work in the Vatican Grottoes; and the restoration of the Madonna della Colonna; and a 14th-century, 7-foot-tall wooden crucifix that was present in the original St. Peter’s Basilica.

The restoration of the baldachin is soon to be underway and is expected to be completed by the Jubilee Year 2025. The project will be conducted under the leadership of Pietro Zander, head of the Necropolis and Classical Antiquities of the Fabbrica di San Pietro in the Vatican.