Il Gesù
Church of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, or “Il Gesù,” and Mother Church of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius of Loyola settled in Rome around November 1537. On September 27, 1540, Pope Paul III recognized the Society of Jesus as an official religious order. The original building plan was by Giovanni Bartolomeo di Lippi who conceived a church with a single nave, six chapels on each side, and two doors to the street. Difficulties brought the project to a halt. Next, Michelangelo prepared a drawing of a church with one nave, eight side chapels, a transept with terminating chapels, and an apse. The finished plan drawn up in August-September 1568, featured a church with one nave, three small chapels on each side, and a transept terminating in a large chapel at each end. When construction reached the level of the cross-vault in 1571, Vignola withdrew. This left only Tristano as architect. He died in 1575. Giacomo della Porta engaged actively in the construction of the cross-vault, some, and apse. The church was opened for the Holy Year of 1575 with a temporary covering that allowed the faithful to enter while work proceeded. Cardinal Giulio Antonio Santori, delegate of Pope Gregory XIII, consecrated the church on November 25, 1584. The two large transept chapels are dedicated to St. Ignatius and St. Xavier. (Kremer, 2025) Photo from Rome, Italy, 2025.
Photo of statue of St. Ignatius from transept chapel of Il Gesù in Rome, Italy, 2025.