This was announced by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, announcing that the rite will begin at 10:30 am in the Roman church of Piazza Santa Maria Ausiliatrice, no. 54.
The solemn Eucharist will also be attended by several members of the General Council of the Congregation and the Salesians of the community. Together with the parish community, the participation of various representatives and members of the Salesian Family is also expected.
The deaconry of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice is a cardinal's title, that is, one of the churches of the Diocese of Rome and its suburban sees whose name and properties are linked to a cardinal at the time of its creation.
The cardinal title, unlike the particular ecclesial office to which a cardinal can be called, is for life, and symbolises the cardinal's belonging to the Roman clergy and the unity of the College of Cardinals as an instrument of support for the pastoral activity of the Bishop of Rome.
The parish basilica of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice was built at the urging of Pope Pius XI, who, after approving the project of the vocational school that the Salesians wanted to dedicate to him on the Via Tuscolana in Rome, asked them to attach a church to it, proposing that he himself would consecrate it to Don Bosco's Madonna. To comply with the Pope's wish, it was decided that on 4 June 1929, immediately after the beatification of Don Bosco, the first stone of the new church would be placed next to the Pius XI institute.
It was built by architects Nicola Mosso and Giulio Valotti, SDB, between 1931 and 1936, and consecrated on the morning of 17 May 1936 by Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome.
The church is a Latin cross church measuring 72 metres across the major arm and 42 across the minor arm. The style is that of the great Roman churches of the Renaissance, and as such was frescoed by Fr Giuseppe Melle, SDB, between 1956 and 1964. In the great vault of the central nave, Melle expresses the power of the Mother of God. At the centre is Our Lady, and the first church of Mary Help of Christians in Turin. All around are the great story of the victories of Christianity with Mary's help.
It has been the seat of the cardinalate since 1967 and since 1969 it has had the dignity of a minor basilica.
