The ancient Appian Way The majority of the over 60 Christian catacombs of Rome were excavated along the consular roads. To promote the knowledge of the catacombs through the means of communication: the mass-media press with books, magazines and nespaper; Radio and TV networks and especially through Internet, was a pressing need for the catacombs.
The Jubilee itself was planned in the field of communication. It has been rightly remarked that "the universal value of Jubilee, to attract attention, must first become news, before it changes into a message". Of course the news must be objective, complete and religious. We soon realized that the catacombs had little or no room in the unlimited field of the communication media.. First of all we urged the press to print articles on this fascinating, but largely unknown topic. The answer was very soon encouraging: Inside the Vatican ("Exploring the roots of Christianity" by June Hager), 30 Days ( "The humble Splendor of the First Witnesses" by Stefania Falasca), The Antwerp Gazette ("Calixtus’ rustplaats" by Koenraad Nijssen), Deutsche Tages-post ("Hier wird die Einheit der Kirche über Jahrtausende erfahrbar" by Ludwig Ring- Eifel), L’Osser-vatore Romano ("Callisto e la sua Comunità agli inizi del 3°secolo" by Enrico dal Covolo) and " Anche un sito Internet per una meta irrinunciabile dei pellegrini a Roma" by Giovanni Del Col).
Radio Stations as well, broadcast services about the catacombs. Among them we quote: Radios Chrétiennes en France ("Témoins connus ou inconnus, ils partages la fois qui les fait vivre ") ;
Katholische Nachrichten Agentur ("Das Jubiläumsjahr 2000 – Pilgerfahrt nach Rome auf den Strassen von Internet"), the EWTN and WEWN, the USA Global Catholic Networks, broadcast five articles and 3 videocasettes in English and Spanish.
Our privileged choice of intervention was however Internet, the most widespread, economic and speedy net of electronic communication in the world. Our aim was to give a brief outline of the catacombs themselves, with information on the five catacombs of Rome open to the public: their addresses, opening days, visiting hours, prices of admission and the instructions and discounts from the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology. We put online an unpretentious site, which however gained an unexpected success.
We received many letters and E.Mails of thanks, remarks of appreciation, notes of encouragement, comments on the site itself. Right at the beginning of the General Outline, we had told the Internet visitors that the site had been built with them in mind to meet their requirements, and asked for comments, suggestions and requests, in order to render the site more suitable for them and for the future pilgrims to Rome.
It was at once clear that the site filled an evident gap and that what we had given was not enough. We noticed that the audience was made up mainly of common people and of young people This affected the choice of the language.
The texts are written in a plain, readily understood language.All technical and archaeological terms are clearly explained. For the same reason we did not give any bibliography, because the scholars can easily get it from encyclopedias or from research works.
The site has received appreciation and awards from many lay and religious organizations. Here is a selection of some of them.
Since we are still in the early days of the Church Liturgical year, it is only appropriate to think of the early days of the Church – the Age of the Martyrs during the first three centuries when, in the words of Tertullian " the blood of the Martyrs became the seeds of Christianity"’. We have discovered an excellent site that covers this and provides the browser with everything you ever wanted to know about the early martyrs and the labyrinth of underground tunnels, crypts ,nooks and crannies known as the catacombs.
This virtual site, called "The Christian Catacombs of Rome" can be found as . It provides information, history, symbols, spirituality, words from Pope John Paul II, maps, descriptions and even locations, times, prices and tips on when and what to see from the famous Saint Callixtus Catacombs and the catacomb of popes, better known as "little Vatican", to the lesser known ones.
The background on the catacombs is quite interesting, dispelling many myths as the fallacy that the catacombs were hiding places. They were not, but rather burial places first and foremost for the Christians as well as a meeting place to celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and share the faith in study, discussion and prayer.
There are the fascinating facts of why Saint Peter and Paul were buried where they were and how Vatican Hill, a former pagan cemetery, became the seat of Christianity; or why the catacombs are all outside the walls of Rome, or the fact that there are also catacombs in other parts of Italy as well as Carthage and portions of North Africa. The answer to these and numerous other questions can all be found here. There are so many facets we never realized that are explained here, including the fact that the catacombs were also shared with the Jews.
This informative site, operated by the Salesians has assigned Father John Del Col to produce the English version. They also provide full sites in seven other languages: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Dutch and Portuguese making it truly international. The whole purpose is to foster a deeper knowledge of the Christian catacombs and the early history of Holy Mother Church. If one has been to Rome, one will appreciate all the more the nuances an details illustrated and explained in each major catacomb and shrine – especially the Catacombs of St. Callixtus and St. Cecilia.
The origins and history of the catacombs show how the True Faith was fostered, why Christians were drawn here, why families were " dying to get in", and why and how these catacombs became shrines. The spirituality of these granite vaults are emphasized along with prayers and a list of the martyred saints and popes buried in over 60 catacombs winding their way through the subterranean regions of outer Rome.
The illustrations and symbols truly show how the faith was perpetuated in a summary of Christian faith, a "miniature Gospel" for all to imbibe in their soul and sustain during those terrible times of persecution and passed on for posterity. Their legacy outlasted the catastrophic times of the pagan hordes who invaded Rome, intent on destroying the catacombs. This site also explains how they were excavated in later centuries by such unsung heroes as Antonio Bosio, known as the " Christopher Columbus of subterranean Rome". Finally, a very important fact is that they were not referred to as the "catacombs" until the ninth century.
All this and more is contained within this fascinating site which downloads very fast, reads quite easily, is very succinct in wording and offers just the right graphics to go with the copy. The symbols themselves are worth a visit to this site. Though is is departmentalized in content, it is not intended to be anything more than a virtual tribute for the shrines of the martyrs and in that it succeeds admirably. For that we gladly present this week’s Golden Chalice Award to the Christians Catacombs of Rome, conferring Five Hail Mary’s as we ask all the martyred saints to pray for those of us in the Church Militant that we all may have the perseverance to stand up for Christi and our faith no matter what the obstacles may be".