It was built, to a design by architect Pier Luigi Maruffi, between 1952 and 1955, at the suggestion of the then Substitute to the Secretariat of State of the Holy See Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Paul VI, and with the preponderant help of US benefactors Tommaso and Irene Bradley. The church has received pastoral visits from two Pontiffs: Paul VI on 19 February 1967; and John Paul II on 23 February 1982.
The church is a parish seat, erected on 20 December 1952 by decree of Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara Mirabili sollicitudine and entrusted to the priests of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, who are its owners. It is the seat of the Cardinal title of San Filippo Neri in Eurosia, instituted by Paul VI on 7 June 1967.
On the outside, the church is made of brick, with a portico and side bell tower. On the entablature that runs above the portico is the Gospel sentence: Come to me all you who labour and are overburdened and I will give you rest. At the top of the façade is the dedication of the building: D.O.M. in honorem S. Philippi Nerii A.D. MCMLII. Next to the church is a mural from 1996 depicting St. Philip Neri.
The apse of the nave is entirely frescoed. The fresco, the work of the painter Amedeo Angilella (1977), is divided into two parts: the upper part depicts Our Lady, under the title Mater Ecclesiae, with St. Philip Neri and scenes from his life; the lower part depicts Cesare Baronio with other personalities connected to the Oratory; among them are Cardinals Francesco Maria Tarugi and Ugo Poletti, the musician Pierluigi da Palestrina, the French King Henry IV of Bourbon, Pope Paul VI and the two benefactors of the church.
At the back of the church is in full view the foundation stone of the building, laid by Pope Pius XII on 21 May 1951. On the counter façade wall is a large plaque commemorating the establishment of the parish and the meritorious work of the two benefactors, Mr Thomas and Mrs Irene Bradley.
Pipe organ
In the church is the Wilhelm Sauer organ opus 703, built in 1897 for the chapel of the Teutonic Cemetery, Santa Maria della Pietà in Camposanto dei Teutonici (in the Vatican), and placed here in 1965. The instrument, with tubular pneumatic transmission, has two keyboards and pedalboard and 14 registers; the phonic material is enclosed within a neoclassical wooden case, with a three-bay elevation.
Information
For the timetable of the masses and visiting conditions, please consult the contacts.
![Share](/sites/default/files/condividi.png)
Location
To find out about all accessibility services, visit the Rome accessible section.