Archbishop Makrickas: St. Mary Major gets a new ‘online door’ – Vatican News | CPT PPP Coverage

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By Fr. Pawe? Rytel-Andrianik

The Basilica of St. Mary Major has three main entrances.

Now, the 5th-century papal basilica is getting a fourth “door”, one open onto the entire world.

It recently launched a new website that allows the basilica to reach a greater number of people who want to know more about its spiritual, artistic and historical riches.

Open to the faithful across the globe

In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas, commissioner of the Pontifical Basilica of St. Mary Major, described the mission of the new web portal available in seven languages.

“When we talk about the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, we first talk about the shrine,” said Archbishop Makrickas. “Moreover, it was the first in Europe to be officially declared a Marian shrine.”

The Lithuanian-born Archbishop pointed out that the mission of the new webpage is to strengthen the relationship that the faithful have enjoyed with the Papal Basilica for centuries.

More on the website

The portal www.basilicasantamariamaggiore.va is available for the first time in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Polish.

It is a functional window onto the basilica, easily accessible from any device.

Users can navigate through two macro sections: liturgical-pastoral and historical-artistic.

The creation of the portal was done in collaboration with the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communication, our parent organization.

New web portal of the Basilica

Highlighting the basilica’s beauty

Severija Kubilius, the archivist of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, who worked on the preparation of the web portal, emphasized several of its most important aspects.

“I like the fact that the new webpage virtually opens the doors of the basilica both in terms of content and images,” she told Vatican News. “The aesthetic aspect was crucial for us to promote the basilica’s beauty. We also wanted to show the different realities that make up the basilica. We even did a photo advertising campaign because, from a content point of view, we also wanted to show the different realities that make up the basilica. We are talking about the chapter, but there are also the religious communities, the associations, the choir and the various offices in the basilica.”

Ms. Kubilius added that the website shows the basilica’s museum value as well.

The Basilica of St. Mary Major is one of the four papal basilicas in Rome.

Around 4,000 people visit the basilica each weekday, and Pope Francis has made it a custom to visit the ancient icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani to pray to Our Lady before and after each of his Apostolic Journeys abroad.

Icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani