Pagan Sun Worship and Catholicism
Pope Dedicates New Roman Shrine to the Virgin Mary

On July 4th, 1999, Pope John Paul II dedicated a new shrine to the Virgin Mary on the outskirts of Rome, built in commemoration and thanksgiving of the sparing of the city from Allied bombing during World War II. Of particular note in the design of the shrine, is the large expanse of symbolic stained glass, which is briefly described in a Zenit News Agency article as follows:

Two large stained glass windows measuring 17,000 square feet transform the light in the interior to an intense blue. These are enormous blue glass walls, reminders of Mary's color. A huge red sun breaks the ensemble to emphasize Christ's central role. Source:  Zenit News Agency, © July 5th, 1999 POPE INAUGURATES ROMAN SHRINE OF VIRGIN OF DIVINE LOVE.
	Photo from the front page of the weekly English edition of L'Osservatore Romano, N.27 (1599) dated 7 July 1999 (The photo itself lacked attribution or copyright but is presumed to be © 1999 by L'Osservatore Romano)

As the above photo makes quite clear, the stained glass depicts a red and yellow sun on a sky-blue background. This is but another example of Catholicism adopting the symbology of pagan sun worship, and "baptizing" it into the Catholic Church by merely substituting Christian names for the pagan.

---

http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/