History
The church was founded in the early Middle Ages, probably in the 7th century. It is first mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis under Pope Hadrian I, using spolia from the ruins of an imperial building. The first priests who served the church were probably eastern Basilian monks who had fled from persecution during the iconoclast period.
It is listed in the Catalogue of Turin as a papal chapel with eight clerics and in 1574 was granted to the Jesuits by Pope Gregory XIII, and it was used as the church of the next-door Collegium Germanicum in the Palazzo di Sant'Apollinare, which was later united with the Hungarian College to form the Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum. This remained a Jesuit institution until the suppression of the Jesuits in 1773, when this church passed to the Lazarists.
In the late 17th century, the church was in a poor state of repair. Its rebuilding was considered over a long period but wasn't carried out, probably due to the lack of funds. Despite this, in 1702 a chapel was redecorated and dedicated to St Francis Xavier, and a statue of the saint commissioned from Pierre Le Gros who carved the marble with extraordinary virtuosity (the statue was preserved when the church was eventually rebuilt some 40 years later and is still in situ). [1]
Only in 1742, Pope Benedict XIV commissioned Ferdinando Fuga to rebuild the church. Fuga added a new façade in the late 16th century style, with Baroque elements. It has two stories, with Ionic columns in the lower and Corinthian ones in the upper. The lower level has a central doorway flanked by windows. Above the door is a triangular tympanon. On the upper level is a large central window with a balcony, and two smaller windows to the sides. The façade is crowned by a double tympanon. Fuga also reconstructed the dome. The church as a whole was rededicated in 1748.
Francesco Antonio Zaccaria, writer and archaeologist, who died in 1795, was buried in the Chapel of St Ignatius of Loyola here.
In 1984 the church was elevated to minor basilica status. [2]
In 18 December 1990, the church was granted to the Opus Dei, and is now part of their Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The new Chaplain of the Opus Dei settled in 1 September 1991. In 24 April 1990, when the Church had not yet been entrusted to Opus Dei, the notorious gangster Enrico De Pedis, boss of the so-called Banda della Magliana, was buried in the church's crypt, by authorization of Cardinal Ugo Poletti. The unusual interment has been linked to the case of Emanuela Orlandi's kidnapping [3] and the tomb was opened for investigation in 2012. [4] In 18 June 2012, the remains of De Pedis were transferred to the cemetery of Verano.
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The Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, was established as a Foundation by Pope John Paul II on 6 January 1999. The purpose of the Domus is to accommodate clergy who are assigned to the diplomatic service of the Holy See, or who are officials of the Roman Curia. The Domus is at the Southern wing of the Palazzi di S. Apollinare. It is an historic Palazzo located in the ancient centre of Rome, and one of the four residences of the Officials of the Roman Curia in Rome; the other three are Domus Sanctae Marthae within the Vatican Walls, the Casa San Benedetto at via dell'Erba, and the Domus Romana Sacerdotalis at via Traspontina. The last two are located near the St. Peter's Square. Cardinals, bishops and priests who visit the Pope in Rome or who participate in the various apostolic works of the Holy See also stay at the Domus. The Domus is near the Vatican, notable Roman monuments, and famous sights.
