Santa Dorotea is an ancient

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in the

Diocese of Rome The Diocese of Rome (; ), also called the Vicariate of Rome, is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church under the direct jurisdiction of the pope, who is Bishop of Rome and hence the supreme pontiff and head of the worldwide Catholic Church. As ...

served by the

Conventual Franciscan The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

friars A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders in the Catholic Church. There are also friars outside of the Catholic Church, such as within the Anglican Communion. The term, first used in the 12th or 13th century, distinguishes the mendic ...

. It was first attested to in a

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

Pope Callistus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy ...

in 1123, being referred to under its first dedication of ''San Silvestro alla Porta Settimiana''.

History

In 1445, it was recorded under the double dedication of ''SS Silvestro e Dorotea'', the latter,

Dorothea of Caesarea Dorothea of Caesarea (also known as Saint Dorothy, Greek: Δωροθέα; died ca. 311 AD) is a 4th-century virgin martyr who was executed at Caesarea Mazaca. Evidence for her actual historical existence or ''acta'' is very sparse. She is calle ...

, being an obscure martyr of Caesarea in Cappadocia (modern Kayseri, Turkey) who might have been killed in the early 4th century if she existed at all. In 1475 the church was rebuilt and given full parochial status, and the relics of St Dorothy were enshrined here by Giuliano De Datis, the parish priest, in 1500. In 1517, St Cajetan founded the

Oratory of Divine Love The Oratory of Divine Love was an Italian Catholic ecclesiastical reform movement that originated in Genoa at the end of the 15th century. The notary, Ettore Vernazza (father of the mystic nun, Battistina Vernazza), played a key role in its format ...

in the sacristy. This is considered to have been a major event in the beginnings of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. In 1566, the church was re-listed under the present dedication and the first free public school in Europe was opened in 1592 by St Joseph Calasanz in the house next door, the first school of the

Piarist Order The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz. ...

of priest educators. In 1727, the parish was suppressed, and in 1738 the church was granted to the Friars Minor Conventual. They demolished it again, and rebuilt it as the chapel of their new convent on the site. The rebuilding was entrusted to Giovanni Battista Nolli by Giovanni Carlo Vipera, Minister-General of the Conventuals. The parish was re-erected in 1824, and the church restored and re-consecrated in 1879. On 12 June 2014, it was established as a titular church by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

with Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers, as its first Cardinal-Priest having served 10 years as a cardinal-deacon.

List of Cardinal-Priests

* Javier Cardinal Lozano Barragán (12 June 2014 – 20 April 2022) *

Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal C.J.M. (born 29 March 1942) is a Colombian prelate of the Catholic Church who was archbishop of Cartagena in from 2008 to 2021. He was bishop of Zipaquirá from 1992 to 1994 and archbishop coadjutor of Cartagen ...

(27 August 2022 – present)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorotea, Rome 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Titular churches Baroque architecture in Rome Roman Catholic churches completed in 1824 Churches of Rome (rione Trastevere)