A Church in the name of Mother Teresa in Rome


Ponte di Nona is a new neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome. Built in the last decade it is an area populated by 15-20 thousand people, mostly from the poorer, people with low incomes and social problems.

At the heart of this neighborhood are being finalized the construction works of the church, which will hold the name of Saint Teresa, the Church of the Saint Teresa of Calcutta.

The works have started a little more than two years ago and is expected to be completed within the next two months, before the close of this Jubilee year, announced by the Pope, the year in which the consecration of Mother Teresa last Sunday (September 4) was one of the most important events.

The Italian architect Marco Petreschi, known in Albania for the reconstruction of the country's Central Bank, was selected to design the Church that will be named after the saint of Albanian origin. He tells to VOA that during the conception of the project we must think about the figure of Mother Teresa: "Everything is inspired by her name, starting from the one gesture that touched the whole world, the bending of this small but great woman at the same time toward to those in need. So this way of bending to the poor, has defined  immediately the first lines to design the church, in order to not be a compact and object but dynamic one. Namely, She bow to those who are in need  and at the same time this gesture approach us closer to something supernatural "

Mother Teresa and her Missionaries are distinguished today all over the world because of their distinctive dressing, which also has been another point of inspiration for the architect Petreschi, thinking, as he says, and "the purity of her figure represented also in her dressing. And therefore the whole Church is white, and the blue lines on her dress are represented by the sky. So these two colors blend between them through a material object that is the building of the Church, and something intangible that is heaven. "

The church is far from traditional models. It is the modern style that are blended the religious elements. Inside it is held by 12 pillars representing the 12 apostles, but also the belfry has its meaning. "I think that any church is the house of God, and therefore I wanted the belfry to be transformed into something symbolic for the people that are around. It is represented by three divisions as representing in the abstract the trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit," explains the architect.

All the building which rises in the central square of this neighborhood aims to become a benchmark for the residents but also a kind of identity, explains Petreschi: "We are on the outskirts of Rome, one of the many suburbs with its own problems, with these apartments that have nothing in common and no identity to be close to Rome. So I thought this form to contrast with this monotony. While the material used brings identity. What unites many important objects in Rome, basilicas, large buildings, St. Peter, it is this "dress" with material that is extracted from rocks that is used in Rome since the first millennium BC.

Special is also the cross which is not too classic, "it is to say, something almost transparent - emphasizes the Italian architect - the cross allows us to look at the sky. So there is an element that blocks sight, but in my opinion highlights exactly its function, so that the person who prays, have the opportunity to address to him that stands up."

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