Monday, December 06, 2010

Our Lady of Loreto statue for Rome airport

Pope Benedict XVI blessed a statue of Our Lady of Loreto, which will be placed in Rome's Leonardo da Vinci Airport at Fiumicino to mark the 90th anniversary of the proclamation of Our Lady of Loreto as the patron saint of aviation.

At the end of his weekly general audience Dec. 1, the Pope blessed the modern bronze statue of Mary holding the baby Jesus and standing on a globe with airplanes attached to it; he also received a foot-tall replica of the statue.

Airport executives said the statue, which is just over 8 feet tall, would be placed in a "public and visible" location at the airport after Mass there Dec. 10, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto.

In 1920 Pope Benedict XV proclaimed Our Lady of Loreto the patroness of aviation; tradition holds that Mary's house was flown by angels from Nazareth to Loreto, Italy, in 1292.

Today, millions of pilgrims flock to Loreto each year to venerate the tiny cottage in which the Holy Family is thought to have lived when Jesus was young.

Placing the statue at Fiumicino is "associated with the cultural choice of the airport, which serves the capital city of Italy and the centre of Christianity, with the intention to stress the historical truth of a Europe with Christian roots," said a press release from the company that runs the airport.

The release said special Masses would be offered Dec. 10 in airport chapels in several other European cities "to witness the depth and vitality of the same Christian roots that they share with Rome."

SIC: BC/USA