Celebration for the Consistory Ceremony for the Creation of Cardinal Elect Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos

Welcome to the ‘Eternal City’ for the Consistory and related celebrations of Cardinal Elect His Beatitude Moran Mor Baselios Cleemis Catholicos.

We hope that this small guideline will help our pilgrims to make this spiritual journey to the ‘Eternal City’ a blessed experience. As it contains some basic information on the events, it is strongly recommended to keep a copy of these instructions when you arrive in Rome.

Schedule of the Events
Saturday, November 24,
11: 00 A.M., St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican.
Consistory of the Cardinals: Tickets are required and have been ordered for everyone (see below for details). Seating on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis. The gates normally open at 8:00 A.M., for security check and they are easy to locate. Please keep this ticket to the Papal Mass on Sunday.

Saturday, November 24,
from 4.30 P.M. to 6.30 P.M. : Optional courtesy visit to the new Cardinals. The place of this event will be announced later.

Sunday, November 25,
9:30 A.M., St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican.
Papal Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, with the new Cardinals (Ticket required, come early for security check).
For details on entrance to St. Peter’s, please visit:
http://saintpetersbasilica.org/touristinfo.htm#special.

Sunday, November 25,
4:00 P.M. : Sts. John and Paul Basilica, Rome.
Mass celebrated by the new Cardinal with the entire delegation and special invitees.
(Arrive early for the traditional and liturgical reception. Priests: please bring vestments and Thaksa for Holy Qurbana. There will be a felicitation meeting in the Basilica after the Mass, followed by ‘agape’ in the Passionist Generalate, adjacent to the Basilica. See below for directions).

Monday, November 26,
11:00 A.M., Paul VI Audience Hall, Vatican.
A special audience will be held with the Holy Father for the delegation of the six new Cardinals.

SOME USEFUL INFORMATION
1. Arriving in Rome.
Rome’s Fumicino airport is 19 miles outside of the city. A train station is located inside the terminal and you can travel straight to Termini Station, (14 Euro per person, 6 Euro for Bus, 50 Euro or more for Taxi depending on the place of accommodation), Ostience Station (8 Euro).
From Ciampino airport there are Buses to Rome (6 Euro); there are trains from Ciampino Railway station to Termini station (1.50 euro). This railway-station can be reached only through bus or taxi.
Roma Termini is the main Train, Metro and Bus Station in Rome. For travelling in the Metro, Tram or Bus, a ticket is needed (1.50 Euro, valid for 100 minutes from first use, available in many shops especially at Tabacchi, besides ticket counters and machines). Make sure to validate the ticket at the beginning of the journey. On Saturday and Sunday, the frequency of public transportation is less compared to weekdays, especially at night. (Our transportation committee can help in arranging taxi or other means if contacted early.
For details: Fr. Varghese Mathew Kalayilvadakkethil (Transportation) vk0234 [at] gmail [dot] com. Phone: 0039-3202762034(M)).

2. Arriving at St. Peter’s.
Take Metro A from Termini to Ottaviano (7 minutes walk) or bus 40 (last stop 3 minutes walk) or bus 64 (Cavalleggeri 2 minutes walk). There are many other options but these are some of the most convenient ones.

3. Arriving at the place of your accommodation.
Train, Metro (A, B & B1), Bus, Tram, Taxi are some of the available means depending on where you stay. Find out the location and have all the details including the telephone number with you before arriving in Rome. Make advance arrangements for late night arrivals with the place of your stay if it is not a hotel.

4. Arriving at the Basilica of Sts. John and Paul.
The Basilica is located on the Celian Hill in Rome, opposite to the famous Palatine Hill between Circo Massimo and Colisseum
(Address: Piazza Ss. Giovanni e Paolo 13, 00184 Rome).
This Basilica and the Passionist Generalate (where we have the ‘agape’ after Mass) are of historical importance to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church since our Servant of God Mar Ivanios stayed here during his Rome visit.

Some precautions:
1. Always be careful about your personal belongings and documents. Have a photocopy of your passport and other documents kept with you or with a friend and digitally available if needed (email to yourself).

2. Keep some important phone numbers, including that of your group leader and someone else in Rome. Some helpful phone numbers of the committee members are given with this guideline. Purchasing a SIM card from an Italian cell phone provider can offer significant cost savings as opposed to using your home cell phone. It requires presentation of proper identification, such as a valid passport.
For details: www.italycellphone.com.

3. For any program with the Holy Father, advance security checking and seating is required and earlier the better.

4. If you are staying in a religious house, please respect the rules of the house.

5. The weather might be cold for many pilgrims, especially those who come from India. The average temperature of these days (Nov. 24-28) are 16°C(61°F) – 10°C (50°F). It is also a mild rainy season.

6. Be prepared to walk since some places are not close to the main roads.

7. If you have time to visit the famous Churches or other tourist places and are not part of a group or have no one to direct you, it is better to use the ‘hop on hop off’ buses like Roma Christiana. No prior booking is needed.
http://www.romeguide.it/romacristiana/romacristiana.html.
For Vatican Museums it is better to book in advance to avoid the long lines.
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/z-Info/MV_Info_Orari.html.
Please avoid making tour plans during our above-mentioned schedule of events.

8. The currency of Italy (and most of Europe) is the Euro. There are currency exchange places in many locations. The U.S. Dollar is also accepted in most
places. Look for better exchange rates.

9. Location and distance could be traced in advance online.

Collecting the ticket.
Tickets for the Papal events will be available to us only on November 23rd in the afternoon. Someone from the Invitation Committee will be present at St.
Peter’s Square in front of the Obelisk (tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument in front of St. Peter’s) from 4:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M., with some identifiable
signs. Each group leader will be able to collect the tickets for their group from there. It could also be collected from our Central Office from 5:00 P.M. to 8:00
P.M.,
(Address: Via Aurelia172/3, 00165, Roma. c/o Msgr. Johnson Kaimalayil
0039-066381899 (H) 0039-3276736392(M) email: jkaimala [at] hotmail [dot] com).
Please consult the Invitation Committee for further details in collecting the ticket.
Fr. Kuriakose Cherupuzhathottam (Invitation)
Phone:39-3288610647(M), 3208036976(M) kuriakosecherupuzha [at] gmail [dot] com.

Some Useful Phone Numbers
Fr. Mathew Charthakuzhiyil, (General Information) malankaramathai [at] msn [dot] com

Phone: 0039-393 0968285(M)
Chev. Koshy Parapatt. Phone: 0039-3287508030(M)
Fr. Louis Charuvilaputhenveettil (Programe) Phone: 0039-3273882794 (M)
Fr. Justin Konnathuvila (Accommodation) Phone: 0039-3928823200 (M)
Fr. Thomas Meppurathu (Liturgy) Phone: 0039-3273023601(M)
Fr. Sam Vengattoor (Food) Phone: 0039-3891940246(M)
Fr. Cyril Anand OIC (Choir) Phone: 0039-3207656706(M)
Fr. Cibu Iribinikal (Communication) Phone: 0039-3392366264(M)
Fr. Mathew Jacob Thiruvalil OIC (Finance) Phone: 0039-320 777 3575(M)
Fr. Paul Kodannur (Reception) Phone: 0039-3203460217(M)
Fr. Bernard Nadutherivila (Procession and Service Team)
Phone: 0039- 3899399655(M)
Fr. Anoop Panthirayithadathil (In Charge of Bishops)
Phone: 0039- 3312488864(M)

Prepared by the Celebration Committee, Date: 16th November 2012.