Chiesa di San Tommaso d'Aquino

The parish was erected on February 15, 1977 with the decree of the Cardinal Vicar Ugo Poletti Quotidianis curis and entrusted to the diocesan clergy of Rome.The territory, derived from that of the parishes of S. Cirillo Alessandrino and S. Francesco di Sales, was determined within the following boundaries: Via Giorgio Enrico Falck and ideal continuation up to Via di Tor Tre Teste – said Via, in a southerly direction, up to the height of the ideal continuation of Via degli Olmi which is followed up to the height of civic number 135 (which remains in the parish of S. Francesco di Sales) – from here the high voltage power line is followed in a northerly direction, up to the height of Via Molfetta – ideal line that reaches for Via breve Via Giuseppe Candiani at the height of Via Giorgio Enrico Falck – Via Giorgio Enrico Falck.
These boundaries, just indicated, were modified with the establishment in 1989 of the new parish of Dio Padre Misericordioso (originally dedicated to S. Silvestro Papa), born from our territory.
The recognition of the civil effects of the vicarial provision was decreed on July 3, 1979.At the bottom of the presbytery of our church, the mosaic of the Church of San Tommaso D’Aquino was created.
Planimetrically, the parish complex, built in 1986-87, is composed of three buildings arranged in a C shape in the center of which a small green area is created for outdoor activities.The two main buildings are dedicated: the first, to the liturgical hall and weekday chapel, while the second is occupied by the rectory and the catechism classrooms. The third, lower building, constitutes the connection of the first two and contains the parish offices and the sacristy.The main facade is located on Via Campari, and is emphasized by the presence of a front portico that juts out from the entrance to the liturgical hall in the form of a pronaos to welcome the faithful. To the right of the entrance, one cannot fail to notice a high pier that supports the Cross, a visual reference point for the parish territory.The liturgical hall insists on a square plan with an adjoining weekday chapel on the left side. The structure is in exposed reinforced concrete with a coffered ceiling divided into nine parts. Both the central coffer and the one that insists on the presbytery are equipped with skylights. In particular, the large skylight placed on the presbytery symbolically illuminates, due to its position, the altar in a zenithal manner.The design of the main beams of the ceiling is reproduced in projection on the floor which is marked by fields of Coreno marble and bands of Travertine and Peperino, while the raised floor of the presbytery is in granite.The liturgical fires are arranged in the presbytery including the baptismal area located to the right of the altar.
The architecture of the parish house and the liturgical hall are the work of Eng. Ernesto Vichi and Arch. Aldo Aloysi. In addition to the parish of San Tommaso d’Aquino, both designers are responsible for numerous sacred projects and constructions in the diocese of Rome, so much so that Eng. Ernesto Vichi, head of the Technical Office of the Vatican City, received the Commenda dell’Ordine di San Silvestro papa from John Paul II in 1986 for having well interpreted the new role of the religious building in light of the renewal of the liturgy in the post-conciliar period.Very similar, in terms of planimetric setting, fundamental elements of the project and structural scheme, are other churches built by the two designers in the territory of the diocese of Rome. We mention the church of Santa Maria Domenica Mazzarello, the Church of Santa Giulia Billiart, the church of SS Corpo e Sangue di Cristo.
The mosaic, in honor of the patron saint St. Thomas Aquinas, represents a table in which the risen Christ offers the Bread of Angels on both sides, Mary, with the scroll of the Word in her hand, and John the Baptist, with the shell symbol of baptism in his hand.
At the two ends, two angels holding, with a handkerchief, the Eucharistic Bread.