Pope Paul VI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements.
Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State, is an independent city-state, microstate and enclave within Rome, Italy. Also known as the Vatican, the state became independent from Italy in 1929 with the Lateran Treaty, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity of international law, which maintains the city state's temporal, diplomatic, and spiritual independence. With an area of 49 hectares and a 2019 population of about 453, it is the smallest state in the world both by area and population. As governed by the Holy See, Vatican City State is an ecclesiastical or sacerdotal-monarchical state ruled by the Pope who is the bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergy of various origins. After the Avignon Papacy (1309–1377) the popes have mainly resided at the Apostolic Palace within what is now Vatican City, although at times residing instead in the Quirinal Palace in Rome or elsewhere.
Pope Paul III, born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
The year 1960 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings.
Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer and architect. He studied at the University of Bologna graduating in 1913. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946 to 1961 and is known worldwide as a structural engineer and architect and for his innovative use of reinforced concrete, especially with numerous notable thin shell structures worldwide.
The Lateran Palace, formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran, is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome.
Habemus papam or Papam habemus is the announcement traditionally given by the protodeacon of the College of Cardinals or by the senior cardinal deacon participating in the papal conclave, in Latin, upon the election of a new pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
Grottammare is a town and comune on Italy's Adriatic coast, in the province of Ascoli Piceno, Marche region.
Torino Esposizioni is an exhibition hall and convention centre in Turin, Italy which was primarily completed in 1948, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi.
The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy is one of the Roman Colleges of the Catholic Church. The academy is dedicated to training priests to serve in the diplomatic corps and the Secretariat of State of the Holy See.
The apostolic blessing or papal blessing is a blessing imparted by the pope, either directly or by delegation through others. Bishops are empowered to grant it three times a year and any priest can do so for the dying.
The Vatican Climate Forest, to be located in the Bükk National Park, Hungary, was donated to the Vatican City by a carbon offsetting company. The forest is to be sized to offset the carbon emissions generated by the Vatican during 2007. The Vatican's acceptance of the offer, at a ceremony on July 5, 2007, was reported as being "purely symbolic", and a way to encourage Catholics to do more to safeguard the planet. No trees have been planted under the project and the carbon offsets have not materialized.
Hangar One is one of the world's largest freestanding structures, covering 8 acres (3.2 ha) at Moffett Field near Mountain View, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Santos Abril y Castelló is a Spanish prelate of the Catholic Church. After a career in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See, he held a number of positions in the Roman Curia and from 2011 to 2016 was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Papal Concert to Commemorate the Shoah (Holocaust) was the first official Vatican commemoration of the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis during World War II. It took place in the Sala Nervi at the Vatican on April 7, 1994. The concert was conceived and created at the direct behest of Pope John Paul II by the American conductor Gilbert Levine, who had first met the Pope after he was appointed artistic director and conductor of the Krakow Philharmonic, in December 1987. Pope John Paul II, Rav Elio Toaff, the Chief Rabbi of Italy, and Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, President of Italy jointly presided over the event, and viewed it from positions of equal honor.
The Church of San Lorenzo in Piscibus is a 12th-century small church in the Borgo rione of Rome. It is located near Saint Peter's Square and Vatican City, but its façade is not visible from the main street, Via della Conciliazione.
The Resurrection is an 800-quintal (80-metric-ton) bronze/copper-alloy sculpture by Pericle Fazzini in the Paul VI Audience Hall in Rome. Intended to capture the anguish of 20th century mankind living under the threat of nuclear war, La Resurrezione depicts Jesus rising from a nuclear crater in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Pericle Fazzini was an Italian painter and sculptor. His large work, La Resurrezione, is installed in the Aula Paolo VI in the Vatican City in Rome.
Andrea Tornielli is an Italian journalist and religious writer.
Auditorium Conciliazione, also known as Auditorio Pio and former Auditorium di Santa Cecilia, is a hall of audiences, concerts and musical performances located at number 4 of the Via della Conciliazione, in the Borgo Rione in Rome, linked to the Palazzo San Pio X. The work of Marcello Piacentini and Giorgio Calza Bini was inaugurated in 1950 and eight years later became the headquarters of the Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia until the end of the century.
