A Pencil in God's Hands

Book excerpt: A Pencil in God’s Hands The Story of the Only American Architect to Design a Building in the Vatican By: Louis D. Astorino The Chapel of the Holy Spirit is within the Vatican walls and is built adjacent to the Domus Sanctae Marthae, a hotel for visiting clergy. In 1993, Pope John Paul II made the decision to have a hotel and chapel constructed at the Vatican in order to accommodate visiting clergy year round, but most especially during a Papa Conclave, when cardinals housed at the Vatican Museum where they slept on cots in the halls with bedpans by their side. The Pope was determined to bring the accommodations for the Conclave into the twenty-first century. With no vacant land within the Vatican walls, the Pope made the decision to have an older building directly across from St. Peter’s Cathedral demolished for the new structures. The location of the new hotel and chapel would allow the cardinals to attend Mass in sequester, then go directly through St. Peter’s Basilica and into the Sistine Chapel to vote. Today, that chapel- The Chapel of the Holy Spirit- is used for the more than sporadic Conclave. Pope Francis celebrates daily Mass there and also uses it for gatherings and audiences with groups of visiting clergy, the Swiss Guard, and the families with special needs children. As you read the story of my journey from Pittsburgh to the Vatican, pencil sketch to blueprint, construction to dedication, I hope you will share in the inspiration, awe, and strengthening of faith that I experienced during this remarkable journey. In order to put this story in context let us travel back in time.