The basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia, Italy—built on the site where the Patron Saint of Europe was born—has reopened following a long process of restoration after a devastating earthquake struck the region in 2016.
Archbishop Renato Boccardo, presiding at the reopening ceremony, said: “The reconstruction of the Basilica is not simply an important and daring architectural undertaking or an intervention to recover artistic heritage; it is an act of civil and spiritual resurrection.”
Most of the basilica had collapsed because of the earthquake; only the facade was left intact.