Natalia Dedinsky<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ancient civilizations created monuments to connect them with their gods. One of those ancient monuments now helps Catholics connect with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the center of St. Peter's Square stands what the Egyptians called a petrified ray of sunshine. Today, it's known as an obelisk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fr. Francisco Cerrilla, LC, tour guide and expert on the city of Rome, explains why it's important to the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
FR. FRANCISCO CERRILLA, LC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rome Tour Guide<\/p>\n\n\n\n In our faith, we call it 'The Silent Witness.' Because of many things, not only because it has seen all the popes, the development of our faith in Rome since the martyrdom of St. Peter. But because it was in Egypt, where the Hebrew people were slaved by Egyptians for hundreds of years.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n From Egypt, it was transported by boat to Rome, where it witnessed the martyrdom of St. Peter. Since that time, it has seen every pope elected, including Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FR. FRANCISCO CERRILLA, LC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rome Tour Guide<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, the obelisk has a cross on top of it, and inside that cross of bronze there is a relic of the real Cross of Christ. That unites a double message on how the Egyptians, the pagan world, had their gods, and how the Christianity conquers the paganism.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It's in the center of the plaza, just looking to the main altar. You can really connect a straight line from the cross above the obelisk to the main altar where St. Peter's tomb is lying.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the base of the obelisk are bronze lions, symbols of the Lion of Judah Himself. They are surrounded by laurel wreaths, symbolizing the power of Christ who reigns as the true emperor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FR. FRANCISCO CERRILLA, LC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rome Tour Guide<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pope Sixtus V, he changed the whole infrastructure of Rome, like the streets. He created huge important streets, 'vias,' that would connect important points of the city to make it more... to strengthen the Christian symbolism of Rome.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Moving the obelisk was slow, as it weighs over 300 tons. It was the only of 13 in the city of Rome that didn't break in transit: a symbol of the unity of the Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FR. FRANCISCO CERRILLA, LC<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rome Tour Guide<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he would put the obelisks in the center of the plazas back then. We're talking about the year 1585, more or less. He decides to move the obelisk from its original position in the Vatican, that was around where the Sacristy is right now, the Sacristy of the Vatican, to the center of St. Peter's Square.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing at the heart of St. Peter's Square this monument is a silent witness that welcomes pilgrims from across the world, directing their gaze toward the basilica and the tomb of the Apostle beneath it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Natalia Dedinsky Ancient civilizations created monuments to connect them with their gods. One of those ancient monuments now helps Catholics connect with God. In the center of St. Peter's Square stands what the Egyptians called a petrified ray of sunshine. Today, it's known as an obelisk. Fr. Francisco Cerrilla, LC, tour guide and expert on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":758,"featured_media":93167,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/A82Mx2x-xTA","video_descarga":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bobeliscosanpietroeng.mp4","international_url":"https:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bobeliscosanpietroint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93166"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/758"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93171,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93166\/revisions\/93171"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}