Today,22 May 200, will see the re-enactment, by eight students from the Pontifical Irish College, of the participation of Earl Hugh O’Neill in the Corpus Christi procession in Rome of 1608. As the Vatican celebrates the Feast of Corpus Christi tomorrow, the seminarians will accompany Pope Benedict XVI in this procession through the streets of Rome.
Two deacons, Colin Crossey from the Diocese of Down and Connor and Shane Gallagher from the Diocese of Raphoe, will participate in the Corpus Christi Mass, while six other seminarians (four of whom are Irish, see below) will flank Pope Benedict from 7.00pm as the procession covers the route between two of Rome’s major basilicas: Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary Majors.
The ceremony will be attended by representatives from the Irish Embassy to the Holy See and from the Irish Embassy to Italy as well as by members of the Irish community living in Rome.
