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Urbi et Orbi ("to the City [of Rome] and to the World") denotes a papal address and Apostolic Blessing given to the City of Rome and to the entire world on certain occasions.
The Urbi et Orbi address and blessing are given each Easter and Christmas from the central loggia of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, at noontime and are broadcast worldwide through the European Broadcasting Union and other linkups. The address concludes with greetings in many languages in relation to the feast celebrated.
The Catholic Church grants a plenary indulgence, on the usual conditions, to those who "devoutly receive" the blessing that the Pope imparts Urbi et Orbi. For any indulgence, the conditions are receiving sacramental confession and Eucharistic communion, and praying for the intentions of the Pope. To gain a plenary indulgence, a person must in addition exclude any affection for sin, even venial sin.[1]
Since 1985, this indulgence is granted not only to the people in Saint Peter's Square but also to those who, though unable to be physically present, "piously follow" it by radio or television.[2][3]
This is now extended to all who receive the papal blessing over the Internet ("the new communications media"), since the blessing is preceded by an announcement by the Cardinal Protodeacon: "His Holiness Pope Francis grants a plenary indulgence in the form laid down by the Church to all the faithful present and to those who receive his blessing by radio, television and the new communications media. Let us ask Almighty God to grant the Pope many years as leader of the Church and peace and unity to the Church throughout the world."[4]
Note that the final invocation is the same as that of all the solemn blessings at the end of Mass of the Roman Rite.
Prior to the occupation of Rome by the army of the Kingdom of Italy (September 20, 1870), this blessing was given more frequently and at specific basilicas at Rome:
On the occasion of a Holy Year the Pope gave the blessing on other occasions too for the benefit of pilgrims. In the jubilee year of 1650 Pope Innocent XI did so at Epiphany, Pentecost, and All Saints. He and later Popes gave such special-occasion blessings from the balcony of the Quirinal Palace, which was then the papal residence.[5]
After the occupation, Pope Pius IX considered himself a "prisoner in the Vatican" and in protest ceased to give the blessing. The practice was later resumed, though in a more limited manner, following the resolution of the so-called "Roman Question" (i.e., the legal relationship between the Holy See and the Italian government).
The term Urbi et Orbi evolved from the consciousness of the ancient Roman Empire. In fact it should be expressed by the Pope as the bishop of Rome (urbs = city; urbi the corresponding dative form; compare: urban) as well as the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, as it were, includes the whole world (orbis = earth; orbi the corresponding dative form; compare: Orbit).
The formula is found more frequently in the language of the church, as in the inscription at the Lateran Basilica, after which the church is: omnium urbis et orbis Ecclesiarum mater et caput[6] - "the head and mother of all churches of the city and of the earth" = the principal and mother of all churches of the world.
In the 4th century, Pope Damasus I wrote in a letter to the bishops of Illyricum:
Unde iustum est, omnes in Universo Romanorum Orbe Doctores legis, ea, quae legis sunt, sapere, et non fidem doctrinis variis maculare.[7] - (English: "Hence, it is just, that all doctors of the law in the Universe of the World of the Romans, those, who are of the law, are wise, and do not teach the faith with various doctrines.")
The ritual of the papal blessing Urbi et Orbi developed in the 13th Century during Pope Gregory X, who consulted before his election with Niccolò and Maffeo Polo.[8][9]
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