Vatican confirms controversial restaurant plan for St. Peter’s Basilica terrace

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Vatican confirms controversial restaurant plan for St. Peter’s Basilica terrace
Several prelates, speaking anonymously, expressed reservations about the idea of groups of visitors eating and drinking above the tomb of St. Peter.



St. Peter's Basilica
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Jan 30, 2026
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has confirmed plans to expand a refreshment area into a restaurant on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica, with a possible opening in 2026 to coincide with the basilica’s 400th anniversary.

On Thursday, Italian newspaper Il Messaggero revealed the existence of top‑secret works on the terrace of St. Peter’s Basilica involving the construction of a bistro. Today, amid strong misgivings from priests and bishops about the appropriateness of treating the heart of Catholicism this way—right above the tomb of the first Pope—the Vatican confirmed the plans.

The Holy See said that work is under way to expand the existing refreshment point on the main terrace above St. Peter’s Basilica into a larger bistro-style facility, using former storage rooms once occupied by the Sampietrini, the workers responsible for the daily care and maintenance of the Basilica. The stated aim is to manage increased visitor numbers, and the Vatican will potentially inaugurate the project either by Easter 2026 or for the 400th anniversary of the Basilica’s consecration on November 18, 2026.

In an official statement the Vatican said: “In order to respond to increased visitor flows, an expansion of the surface area of the terrace accessible to pilgrims is under consideration. This would help to ease the concentration of visitors inside the Basilica and foster a climate of greater recollection. In this context, some spaces would be made available to expand the small refreshment point already in place.”

The project concerns the large terrace above the nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, just behind the statues of the apostles. Once closed to the public, it now offers wide views over Rome and forms part of the route for visitors climbing to the dome.

The work is being carried out under strict confidentiality by the Fabric of St. Peter, the body responsible for the maintenance and administration of the Basilica. Internal Vatican sources cited by Il Messaggero reported that furnishings and materials have already arrived on site, indicating that construction is at an advanced stage, although no definitive completion date has been officially announced.

Allegedly the canons of St. Peter’s Basilica were not formally informed about the project. “The works had been kept strictly secret by the Fabric of Saint Peter and the archpriest,” Il Messaggero reported.

Responsibility rests indeed with Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of the papal basilica, vicar general of the Pope for Vatican City State, and president of the Fabric of St. Peter. An Italian Conventual Franciscan created cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020, Gambetti oversees decisions concerning access, visitor management, and the use of internal and adjacent spaces within the Basilica complex.

The confirmation of the project has prompted internal debate among local clergy. Several prelates, speaking anonymously, expressed reservations about the idea of groups of visitors eating and drinking above the tomb of St. Peter. One priest told Il Messaggero: “It would be unthinkable to have something like this on the roof of a synagogue, at the Western Wall, above the Kaaba in Mecca, or on the terrace of Westminster.”

Gambetti has also faced criticism in connection with a series of grave profanations that have occurred there in recent years. On January 17, an unidentified man climbed onto the altar of the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and violently threw candlesticks, the monstrance, and the altar cross to the ground while the Blessed Sacrament was exposed for perpetual adoration, prompting an immediate penitential rite of reparation.

On October 10, 2025, a drunken man stripped naked and urinated at the same altar. An immediate reparatory rite was not initially planned and was only carried out following direct intervention by Pope Leo XIV. Earlier incidents include a Romanian citizen who, on February 7, 2025, climbed onto the same altar, threw candlesticks to the ground, and removed the altar cloth, without a penitential rite being performed; and a naked man who climbed onto the Altar of the Confession and shouted a pro-Ukraine message on June 1, 2023.

Cardinal Gambetti’s five‑year term as vicar general for Vatican City, and therefore as archpriest of the Basilica, is set to expire on February 20. At that time Pope Leo XIV will decide whether to extend his term or appoint someone new.