1826-2026
© Catacombe San Sebastiano 2026
Via Appia Antica 134 Rome 00179 Italy
200 YEARS OF PRESENCE OF THE FRIARS MINOR Friars, Faith and excavations
In February 1826 the Friars Minor entered the Monumental Complex of Saint Sebastian Outside the Walls, taking on its care. Since then, for two hundred years, the Franciscan presence has accompanied this unique place of Christianity, weaving together faith, welcome, study and witness in one of Rome’s oldest and most venerated shrines. The archaeological complex of Saint Sebastian, which developed from the 2nd century A.D. along the Via Appia Antica, preserves the most ancient roots of the Christian faith through its cemetery: tombs, inscriptions and frescoes that speak of the great faith and the hope of the resurrection of the first communities. Here, thanks to the Apostolic Memory of Saints Peter and Paul, Emperor Constantine wished to build the basilica Apostolorum, a tangible sign of the end of persecutions and of the rise of Christian worship.
Over the centuries, the site also became a center of popular devotion to Saint Sebastian, invoked as protector during epidemics, until it gave the basilica and the catacombs their definitive name. The arrival of the Friars Minor in the 19th century marked a new phase in the history of the complex.
According to the papal brief Ex Locis Sacris of Leo XII, Saint Sebastian was to be a welcoming shrine for pilgrims coming from every part of the world, traveling from and to Rome on their way to the Holy Land and Compostela.
The Franciscans brought their whole vocation, turning the custody of the site into a daily service of hospitality and proclamation. Emblematic of this presence is the figure of fr. Damiano Pinna (1877-1949), who lived at Saint Sebastian for over forty years and contributed decisively to the rediscovery of the Apostolic Memory, culminating in 1915 with the identification of the Triclia and the graffiti dedicated to the Apostles Peter and Paul.
His work embodies the Franciscan spirit of love and service for shrines, of welcome and dialogue between faith and research. Today, two centuries from the beginning of this presence, the Friars Minor of the Province of Saint Bonaventure continue to care for Saint Sebastian as a living place of welcome and encounter, where the memory of the past enlightens the faith of all the pilgrims who visit it.
Fr. Paolo Maiello O.F.M.
Director of the Catacombs