Meloni look-alike angel sparks investigation at historic Roman church

If anything can electrify Italians on a Saturday, it’s certainly a combination of politics and scandal. This time, angels were involved as Romans rushed to the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina, in the proximity of the tourist-bustling Spanish Steps and Via del Corso, to see an angel in a freshly restored chapel with a face identical to that of Giorgia Meloni, Italian prime minister.

On Jan. 31, La Repubblica reported that during the church’s restoration, a “general cherub” was replaced with one with Meloni’s face in the chapel where two angels watch over the bust of the last King of Italy, Umberto II.

“Look closer, you won’t believe it, but it’s her. Before the restoration, there was a generic cherub. Today, (seen is) the face of the most powerful woman in the country. Winged, she holds a map with the image of the Italian boot,” La Repubblica said.

“No, I definitely don’t look like an angel,” Meloni wrote on her Instagram account with an emoji indicating that she was amused with the concept.

The ministry of culture however promptly started an investigation into the matter, as did the Diocese of Rome.

“The modification of the cherub’s face was an initiative of the decorator and was not communicated to the competent authorities,” the diocese said in one of two Jan. 31 statements.

“The Vicariate has undertaken to examine the matter further with the parish priest, Monsignor Daniele Micheletti, and to assess any possible initiatives,” the statement said.

Msgr. Micheletti, rector of the Pantheon and San Lorenzo in Lucina, distanced himself from the Meloni-cherub image, saying, “I read the news in the newspaper this morning and went to see the restoration. There is a certain resemblance, but we would have to ask the restorer why he did it that way. I don’t know,” he told ANSA agency. “I had requested that the chapel be restored exactly as it was. Now, I don’t know if the features of one of the faces are precisely those, but the angel was there,” he added.

The explanations of the rector prompted another statement from the Diocese of Rome, this time from Vicar General Cardinal Baldassare Reina, who said he “distances himself from the statements made by Monsignor Micheletti” — and expresses “his own bitterness over what has occurred.”

Cardinal Reina announced he will “immediately initiate the necessary inquiries to ascertain any possible responsibilities of the parties involved.”

“In renewing the commitment of the Diocese of Rome to the safeguarding of its artistic and spiritual heritage, it is firmly reiterated that images of sacred art and of the Christian tradition may not be subject to improper uses or instrumentalization, as they are intended exclusively to support liturgical life and personal and communal prayer,” the cardinal said Jan. 31.

The Associated Press reported that the Culture Ministry sent a special delegate, Daniela Porro, and ministry officials to the basilica to survey the angel over the weekend. Their aim, according to a ministry statement, was to “ascertain the nature of the work” and “decide what to do,” the AP said.

San Lorenzo in Lucina, dedicated to St. Lawrence, is one of the oldest churches in Rome, dating back to early Christianity. The name “Lucina” derives from that of the fourth-century A.D. Roman matron, who permitted Christians to build a church on the site.

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