Salus populi: Icons and the Protection of the People

Kristin Noreen

doi:10.36391/jis3001

Abstract

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Pope Francis prayed before an icon of the Virgin and Child in Santa Maria Maggiore and a crucifix in San Marcello, two images associated with miraculous healing and intercessory power. He subsequently had the icon and crucifix moved to St. Peter’s where they flanked the pope as he offered a special Urbi et Orbi blessing on March 27, 2020. To contextualize Francis’s use of an icon during the coronavirus outbreak, this article will trace the role of cult images in Rome during occurrences of disease and will briefly discuss the specific importance of the Santa Maria Maggiore icon for the early Jesuit order.

Highlights

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Pope Francis prayed before an icon of the Virgin and Child in Santa Maria Maggiore and a crucifix in San Marcello, two images associated with miraculous healing and intercessory power
To contextualize Francis’s use of an icon during the coronavirus outbreak, this article will trace the role of cult images in Rome during occurrences of disease and will briefly discuss the specific importance of the Santa Maria Maggiore icon for the early Jesuit order
According to Vittorelli, the image had been carried during the procession of Gregory, and had been taken through the city during other contagions at the time of Popes Callistus III (1455–1458) and Hadrian VI (1522–1523); piously processed through Rome, the image was able to liberate the city from the “fatal scourge” and “deadly contagion.”[41]. In 1656, the Clerics Regular of Santa Maria in Portico promoted the church’s feast day celebration on July 17 by circulating leaflets that described earlier miracles performed by the image as a way of demonstrating its ability to protect the city from the contemporary plague.[42]