Chiesa di Sant'Achille

It was built to a design by architect Giorgio Guidi and solemnly consecrated on 11 March 1973 by Cardinal Vicar Ugo Poletti.The church is a parish seat, established on 21 October 1957 by decree of the Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara Exposcit ratio and entrusted to the Third Regular Order of St Francis of Assisi. It was dedicated to St Achilles (a soldier martyred in Rome), because the year of the establishment of the parish (1957) was the centenary of the birth of Pius XI, born Achille Ratti, the pontiff who had worked harder than any other to erect more than fifty parishes in the diocese of Rome.The red-brick church is preceded by the unique cylindrical bell tower. The modest entrance is adorned by a 1996 fresco depicting the Good Shepherd with the inion taken from Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd. On the side of the entrance is a plaque commemorating the titular saint and the reason for the name. Next to the church stands a structure with a rectangular ground plan, which served as a church before the construction of the current church building.The liturgical hall is preceded by an atrium in which are placed: a plaque commemorating the 50th foundation of the parish; a statue of St Achilles holding the palm, symbol of martyrdom; a steel composition commemorating the 2000 Jubilee with the inion Christus heri hodie semper; a terracotta crucifix.
The interior of the church has a fan-shaped plan converging towards the altar. In the apse are:
the pipe organ;
a bronze composition depicting the Eye of God around which Jesus, Our Lady and St Francis fly;
three icons depicting the Crucifixion, the Deposition in the sepulchre and, in the centre, the Glory of Christ.
Walled into the left wall of the presbytery is a Crucifix of Saint Damian accompanied by a phrase from the writings of Francis of Assisi O high and glorious God enlighten my heart. Dame fede directa, speranza certa, carità perfecta, humiltà profonda, senno e cognoscemento che io servi li toi comandmenti.
In the bowl of the apse, to the right of the high altar, is the Mascioni pipe organ opus 961 built in 1973. With electric transmission, it has 29 registers on two manuals and pedal.