The "Pontifical Anthem and March" (; ), also known as the "Papal Anthem", is the

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

played to mark the presence of the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

or one of his representatives, such as a

nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

, and on other solemn occasions. When the Vatican's flag is ceremonially raised, only the first eight bars are played. While the Papal Anthem also serves as the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and the

Vatican City State Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

, the Vatican stresses that it "is not to be understood as a national anthem"; it is a composition whose words and music "speak to the heart of many throughout the world who see in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

the See of Peter."

History

The music was composed in 1869 by

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

, for the celebration on 11 April 1869 of Pope Pius IX's golden jubilee of priestly ordination. The purely instrumental piece in three parts, originally called "Marche pontificale" ( French for "Pontifical March"), became extremely popular from its first performance.Pontifical Anthem and its History
From the official site of Vatican City State. Accessed on 2009-06-21.
(in Italian). From the official site of the Holy See. Accessed on 2009-06-21. It was first performed that day at four o'clock in the afternoon with seven pontifical bands and a chorus of over one thousand soldiers. On 16 October 1949,

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

declared it the papal anthem, replacing Viktorin Hallmayer's " Marcia trionfale" (1857), which, being still the papal anthem when the Vatican City State was founded in 1929, had been treated also as the new state's anthem. Gounod's "Marche Pontificale" was first performed in this new role during a ceremony on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...

of 1949, one day before the opening of the

Holy Year A jubilee is a special year of remission of sins, debts and universal pardon. In the Book of Leviticus, a jubilee year is mentioned as occurring every 50th year (after 49 years, 7x7, as per Leviticus 25:8) during which slaves and prisoners would ...

1950. The old state anthem too was played for a last time, almost as a token of respect. At that time,

Antonio Allegra Antonio Allegra (1905 – 1969) was an Italian organist and lyricist. As one of the organists of St. Peter's Basilica at his time, he wrote the words to '' Inno e Marcia Pontificale'', which was adopted in 1949 as the national anthem of the Hol ...

(1905–1969), who was then one of the organists of

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

, wrote

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

lyricsInno Pontificio
lyrics, with brief historical notes and MIDI file. From the official site of the Holy See. Accessed on 2009-06-21. for Gounod's music. Other lyrics have been composed for the music in various languages and by different authors. In 1991, Raffaello Lavagna of

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

(1918–2015) wrote

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

lyrics for a four-voice choir, on an arrangement by Alberico Vitalini.Score for choir of four voices by Alberico Vitalini with original Latin text by Monsignor Raffaello Lavagna
From the official site of the Holy See. Accessed on 2009-06-21.

Lyrics

Italian lyrics by Allegra (1949)

Latin lyrics by Lavagna (1991)

Alternative Latin lyrics

Notes

References

External links

Official site of Vatican City State

Streaming audio, lyrics and information about the Pontifical Anthemarchive link
{{Authority control Royal anthems Culture of Vatican City Compositions by Charles Gounod 1869 compositions European anthems National anthems Christian hymns in Latin Catholic hymns