PRESS RELEASE

On Monday, 16 January 2023, at 5:00 p.m. in the Chapter Hall of the Vatican Basilica, the School of Arts and Crafts of the Fabric of Saint Peter in the Vatican, promoted by the Fabric of Saint Peter in collaboration with the Fratelli tutti Foundation, will be inaugurated. The inaugural meeting, introduced by His Eminence Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, President of the Fabric of Saint Peter and President of the Fratelli tutti Foundation, will be attended by the students selected for each of the three courses planned for the first year, aimed respectively at stonemasons and marble masons, plasterers and decorators, and carpenters, as well as the teaching staff, composed of personnel from the Technical Office of the Fabric of Saint Peter, professors from Italian and foreign universities, and craftsmen with proven experience. The courses will be illustrated by Father Francesco Occhetta, Secretary General of the Fratelli tutti Foundation and Director of the School, and Dr. Assunta Di Sante, Scientific Director. A guided tour of the Vatican Basilica will follow.

The training courses will have as their objectives the professional and human growth of young artisans and the development of manual skills, with historical-artistic learning, knowledge of the materials used and the acquisition of technical and technological skills. Teaching activities include cycles of lectures, seminars, guided tours and study visits to various locations in Italy. The theoretical lessons will be held in the classrooms specifically set up in the premises of the Palazzo della Canonica under the coordination of Dr. Stefano Attili, Head of Operations of the School, while the workshop activities will be carried out in the workshops of the Fabric of Saint Peter, where the aspiring craftsmen will have the opportunity to practise and work in close contact with Saint Peter’s craftsmen. Through this form of active apprenticeship and generational transmission of knowledge, the students will be able to immerse themselves in the life of the Vatican Basilica, to get to know its spirituality, places, people and organization.

The courses will last six months with compulsory attendance. For the entire duration of the School, the students will be hosted at the residence "Villa Aurelia" of the Dehonian Fathers, located near the Basilica, where they will arrive on the morning of 16 January. They will be accompanied in the group dynamics, as tutor, by Dr. Gloria Amaduzzi, who will encourage personal development through reflection, listening and sharing, so that the experience will allow authentic and fraternal relationships to be established, in an atmosphere where everyone can feel welcome.

Nature of the School and educational programme

The initiative is part of an ancient tradition, dating back to the late eighteenth century, when the Fabric of Saint Peter established the Pontifical Study of Arts, intended for young aspiring “masons, scaffolders, carpenters, stonemasons and all craftsmen of mechanical arts”, which made the institution a training centre of excellence. As documented in archive sources, attendance at the Fabric School was free of charge, intended for the training of young artisans throughout Rome, and open in the evenings and on holidays to allow students to work in the morning. Already at the time of the first institution, the Fabric chose to pass on to the new generations of artisans the technical knowledge of the ancients and the skills necessary to carry out their service in the Vatican Basilica, a treasure chest of extraordinary masterpieces of art and faith, as an act of love and responsibility.

The Fabric of Saint Peter has chosen today, 250 years later, to return to promote the transmission of that "practical knowledge", linked to savoir-faire, with a similar didactic proposal and aims: the School is free of charge and the knowledge will be transmitted by the best artisans of the Basilica. The lessons will take place on the premises and in the workshops of the Fabric of Saint Peter, which for over five centuries has been a centre of excellence of knowledge, capable of stimulating the creativity and skill of artists and craftsmen who are constantly engaged in meeting the specific needs of a unique building such as the Vatican Basilica. The 20 admitted students will learn traditional crafts, adapted to new technologies. Participation in the School will provide an opportunity to build an educating community, formed in a spirit of fraternity and with a view to integral human growth, as an alternative to the loneliness of knowledge and the growing professional individualism.

"The School - emphasizes Cardinal Gambetti - will help us plant a seed in the soil of human promotion, of formation aimed at serving culture, the women and men of our time and the Church. Thanks to the centuries-old tradition preserved by the Fabric of Saint Peter, to the professionalism of the Sanpietrini and to the scientific contribution of the international academic scene, we will try to bear fruit in a truly integral formation, capable of involving, through the teaching of arts and crafts, the spiritual dimension, the cultural and anthropological dimension, ethics and care for community life".

The class

The class is composed of 20 young students – 12 boys and 8 girls – from Italy, Peru, Germany and Belarus. All those admitted are high school graduates and have a technical/artistic education, as stipulated in the admission notice. The youngest have recently finished high school and have chosen the Fabric of Saint Peter School of Arts and Crafts before entering the world of work or university studies. Others are university students who, also on the advice of their teachers, have asked to attend the School. Others have already started one of the trades covered by the courses, others are unemployed or employed in precarious jobs.

Half of the applications were submitted by girls. Since the sixteenth century, the presence of female workers in the Saint Peter building site has been anything but episodic. Among the “sanpietrine” of the past, exemplary for their tenacity, enterprise, entrepreneurial spirit and courage, we find master masons, carters, pozzolaniere, blacksmiths, potters, glaziers, and wood and stone carvers, who enjoyed substantial economic equality and consideration compared to their male colleagues.

The selection of candidates, carried out by means of a test and an individual interview with the support of the School's Organizational Secretariat, coordinated by Dr. Paola D'Onofrio, took particular account of personal motivations. They all expressed a desire to train in ancient trades, which today seem to be unattractive to many of their peers. Application information for the next selection of the Fabric of Saint Peter School of Arts and Crafts can be found by writing to the School's Secretariat (scuola.artiemestieri@fsp.va).

ACCREDITATION PROCEDURES FOR JOURNALISTS:

Journalists and media operators wishing to attend must apply, within 24 hours of the event, through the Holy See Press Office's online accreditation system at: press.vatican.va/accreditation

For further information:

Dr. Roberta Leone - Head of Institutional Communication of the Basilica and the Fabric of Saint Peter - comunicazioneistituzionale@fsp.va - 393 1198745

Rita Cristofari - Head of Press Office Fratelli tutti Foundation -ritacristofari@gmail.com - 331 2969626 - www.fondazionefratellitutti.org