The church of the Spirito Santo is a modern parish church in Paternò, in the Ardizzone area. It came about through the will of Michelangelo Virgillito: the Opera Michelangelo Virgillito foundation started the procedure with the Curia of Catania, and on 6 April 1994 the site was assigned, on which the municipality granted the archdiocese building rights. Until then the parish had been housed in a prefabricated building on viale Kennedy, now the church of the Sacro Cuore di Gesù.
What to see
Building permission was issued on 24 April 1998, and the church was inaugurated on 11 October 2000, the year of the Great Jubilee, by Archbishop Luigi Bommarito. The complex is modern: the church in the middle, a long portico running round the perimeter, then the parish house and the bell tower. The church is elliptical, preceded by a broad forecourt and almost bare outside, with only a row of square openings near the top. Inside, an ambulatory separated from the hall by piers and topped by a gallery runs round the central space; the presbytery, raised by a few steps, is dominated by a carved crucifix.
On the choir loft over the entrance is the Helios organ, another gift from the foundation, built in 2001 by the German firm Glatter-Götz to a design by the organist Francesco Finotti, who inaugurated it: it has two manuals and a pedalboard, with 1504 pipes and 18 stops.
Visiting
Service and opening times should be checked with the parish.
Our editors' tip
In a room off the ambulatory, on the right side, look at the baptismal font: it is designed for baptism both by pouring and by immersion.
