SUICIDE IN ST. PETER'S BASILICA
Church Was Not "De-consecrated" but "Profaned"

VATICAN CITY, AUG 27 (ZENIT).- Yesterday, a 63-year-old man committed
suicide in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

It began as an ordinary summer afternoon at the largest church in the
world, as groups of tourists made their way among the artistic masterpieces
that have come to symbolize some of the greatest expressions ever of both
faith and culture: the Pieta of Michelangelo, works of Canova and Bernini.

Precisely, in front of the main altar, under the canopy or "baldechino" of
Bernini, Benedetto Minnini, a retired resident of the Italian city of Bari,
ended his life with a pistol. It was just after 2 p.m.

At that moment, an Australian woman was filming panoramic shots of the tomb
of St. Peter with her small video camera when, almost unaware of it
herself, she captured the gruesome event on film. She later handed over the
film to the Italian police to help them investigate the incident and
discover the motive behind the suicide.

While other suicides have taken place on Vatican grounds in the past, this
is the first time that it has occurred within the Basilica itself. Pope
John Paul II, who is still living in his summer residence at Castel
Gandolfo, was informed of the incident shortly afterwards.

Joaquin Navarro-Valls, spokesman for the Holy See, denied press reports that
the Basilica would have to be re-consecrated after the suicide. During the
normal daily Mass celebrated at 5 p.m. today, there was a "reparation
rite," as established in the " Cærimoniale Episcoporum."

The Mass "for the remission of sins," was celebrated by St. Peter's parish
priest, Fr. Giovanni Ferrotti. He began by blessing water and sprinkling it
on the faithful and on the place where the suicide was committed. The
liturgical readings and prayers were all of a penitential nature, asking for
forgiveness for what had occurred which, according to Vatican sources,
"profaned" but did not "desecrate" Christianity's largest church.

Cardinal Vincenzo Fagiolo, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for
the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, explained to Vatican Radio that
these reparation rites "express the ecclesial community's sorrow over what
has
occurred, asking for forgiveness and invoking God's mercy. These rites also
implore grace and blessings for the Christian people, who sorrow over the
profanation of the Lord's dwelling."

This ceremony makes no judgement of the person who committed suicide. "We
cannot judge, because we do not know what led him to this act," the Cardinal
explained. Apart from the state the person was in at the time of taking his
life, the reparation affects the objective profanation of the Church.
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