Continuing tradition, pope prays at Marian statue in Rome

Published: 2005-12-08

ROME (CNS) -- Continuing a tradition, Pope Benedict XVI went to the center of Rome Dec. 8 to pray at the foot of a statue of Mary. Located near the Spanish Steps in a crowded district of upscale shops, the statue was erected to commemorate Pope Pius IX's formal declaration in 1854 of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception. Local businesses, the Rome city council and a variety of families and groups leave flowers at the base of the statue on the Dec. 8 feast of the Immaculate Conception, while Rome firefighters use a truck and ladder to hang a flower wreath from Mary's outstretched arm. Pope Benedict offered a huge basket of pink roses draped with a white and yellow ribbon -- the Vatican colors.

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