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This is reported by the Italian daily Il Messaggero, which states that the works have already been completed, six months after the Vatican tried to downplay the controversy by claiming it was merely studying an expansion of the reception area and the small café already in place.
At the end of January, various Italian media outlets revealed plans to install a dining area on the terrace next to the basilica’s dome.
Hours later, Vatican News published an official clarification from the Communications Office of St. Peter’s Basilica denying the opening of a restaurant as such and explaining that the project consisted of expanding the visitable area and the service already provided by the existing café.
However, the clarification acknowledged that the expansion would include a dining point on the terrace, fueling doubts about the true scope of the initiative.
A project driven by Cardinal Gambetti
It is now confirmed that the new establishment will occupy a space next to the current bar, but will go beyond the beverage service that has existed for years. It will have its own kitchen to serve prepared dishes, allowing visitors to have lunch or dinner just meters from Michelangelo’s dome, with a 360-degree panoramic view of Rome.
The initiative has been promoted by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, whose five-year mandate has already expired and whose continuity has not yet been decided by Leo XIV.
The Italian newspaper adds that the original project envisioned a large restaurant with capacity for several hundred people. The proposal was later scaled down to a bistro, although without abandoning the idea of offering a full dining service in one of the Vatican’s most emblematic locations.
In recent days, officials from the Fabric of St. Peter are said to have inspected the facilities and taken part in a private tasting to check the kitchen’s operation before the opening. The premises, according to the report, are fully equipped and ready to begin service.
The Vatican maintains it is a service for visitors
Last February, Cardinal Gambetti publicly defended the project, arguing that if restrooms and a small bar have existed for years for those ascending the dome, there is no reason to prevent a dining service for visitors.
The official position of St. Peter’s Basilica remains that the expansion responds to the need to improve hospitality for the millions of people who visit the church, better managing tourist flows and offering a service compatible with the sacredness of the place.
After those statements, the project appeared to be stalled for several months. It was even interpreted as a possible review by the new pontificate after Leo XIV’s personal secretary, Don Edgar Rimaycuna, was seen inspecting the area. However, the prolonged silence since then and the state of the works point to an imminent opening.
Canonical objections persist
The official explanations have not silenced the criticism. A petition addressed to Cardinal Pietro Parolin remains active, requesting that the project be halted and that its compatibility with canon law be examined.
The promoters invoke Canon 1210 of the Code of Canon Law, which states that in sacred places “only what serves the exercise or promotion of worship, piety, and religion is admitted,” excluding any activity incompatible with the holiness of the place.
Although Leo XIV has not made a public statement on the matter, the planned opening in September once again brings the debate to the table and revives the discussion over whether the bistro is a service for visitors or a commercialization of one of the most sacred spaces in Christendom.