Friday, September 1, 2017

Santa Susanna No Longer the American Parish in Rome

The national parish for Americans in Rome from 1921 to 2017.  Pope Benedict XV chose this church because it was down the street from the former U.S. Embassy.

The Paulists have gotten so liberal I don't know any Americans who attended Mass here, not even the diplomats.  I suspect the Cistercian Abbess and nuns are relived to be free again.  Although they, too, are surely in their terminal stage. 

2 comments:

  1. I suspect the nuns caught wind the Paulists wanted their space?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The new "American Church" is St Patrick's...now leased to the Paulists by the Irish Augustinians.It is practically across the street from the current US Embassy. It is also the titlular church of the Canadian Cardinal Archbishop of Toronto.
    There is a somewhat American connection of sorts albeit very old, but in the 1930s American philanthropist Genevieve Brady attended daily Mass there. She was a very prominent person in Rome and exceedingly generous to the Church. She was a Dame of Malta, Dame of the Holy Sepulchre and given papal nobility with the title "Duchess". The Stations of the Cross in the church were donated in her memory by her second husband (she was widowed) who was the Irish Minister to the Holy See. Duchess Genevieve was also a recipient of the Notre Dame Latare Medal. Her massive Long Island home, Inisfada, was given to the Jesuits in the 1930s and was a retreat and conference center until its sale and demolition in 2013.

    ReplyDelete