Mater Ecclesiae Monastery

Mater Ecclesiae (building on the left) inside the Vatican gardens.

Mater Ecclesiae (Latin for Mother of the Church) is a monastery inside Vatican City.

The monastery, named after a Catholic title for Mary, is located on the Vatican hill inside the Vatican Gardens and near the Aquilone fountain. The building was erected between 1992 and 1994 in place of an administrative building of the Vatican police. Its structure is incorporated into the Leonine walls. The building is divided in two parts: The western chapel (two floors and rectangular in shape) and the eastern community rooms and monastic cells (rectangular in shape and, on the Aquilone fountain's side, with four floors). Adjacent to the monastery is a fruit and vegetable garden.

Mater Ecclesiae was founded by Pope John Paul II in order to have a monastic group of nuns inside Vatican City, who pray for the pope and the Church. This task was at the beginning within the responsibilities of the nuns of the order of Saint Clare. This assignment however was shifted every five years to another female religious order. With the start of renovation works in November 2012, the last nuns moved out.

Resident female religious orders:

• Order of Saint Clare (1994 - 1999)
• Discalced Carmelites (1999 - 2004)
• Benedictine nuns (2004 - 2009)
• Visitandine nuns (2009 - 2012)

On 27 February 2013 it was announced that the monastery will serve as the residence of Pope Benedict XVI after his resignation and as soon as renovation and adaption works on the building will be finished.

Sources

• Francesco Oggiano. "Il Papa? Andrà nel monastero fatto costruire da Giovanni Paolo II". vanityfair.it. Retrieved 14 February 2013. Template:It
• Nicola Gori (26 August 2009). "Monache per vocazione - E per il Papa anche contadine e sarte". L'Osservatore Romano. Retrieved 14 February 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) Template:It

Inline References