Last weekend, Templars Today APS carried out its first shift of service at the Basilica of Santa Maria ad Martyres, the Pantheon in Rome: an activity dedicated to assisting visitors and watching over the liturgical hall.
The service is carried out in coordination with Ales for security, with the custodians of the Ministry of Culture, with the Associazione Nazionale Carabinieri and with the Park & Forest Rangers, who manage access and perimeter monitoring.
The initiative stems from a proposal by the archpriest Mons. Daniele Micheletti and is part of “Oltre la Soglia” (“Beyond the Threshold”), the Diocese of Rome’s project to rethink tourist and spiritual hospitality in the historic centre of the capital. The programme, developed with the Fondo Edifici di Culto and the Orpheo group, enhances 16 historic Roman churches with multilingual audio guides and digital itineraries, in the spirit of slow and mindful tourism. An information point has also been opened at San Lorenzo in Lucina, open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
The Pantheon, transformed from a pagan temple into a Catholic church in 609 AD, is today the Italian state museum site with the highest number of visitors, and at the same time an active place of worship.
