Designed by Architect Franco Berarducci of Rome, beginning in the 1980s, it was built by contractor Antonio Ibba under the guidance of parish priest Father Tonio Tagliaferri and with the collaboration of the entire parish community.
The fundamental principles that guided in the conception of the work can be summarized as follows: the protagonist of the liturgy is the people of God composed of all the baptized faithful and represented by the ecclesiastical hierarchy.
The main mystery is the passion and death of Jesus Christ, which is relived through the Eucharistic liturgy, the proclamation of God’s word and the celebration of the sacraments.
This is how these principles were realized in St. Stephen’s Church: the church hall is an amphitheater with thirteen tiers for a total of 1350 seats, thus achieving a large number of worshippers around the altar within a radius of sixteen meters favoring maximum visibility of the altar, the celebrant and the worshippers themselves among themselves.
The altar is a square block of pink granite symbolizing the universality of the Christian message.
The use of concrete, particularly the almost 1,000-square-foot floor, allowed the use of a triangular coffered ceiling as the vault, which is of extraordinary symmetrical effectiveness and extended sonority.
Also of extraordinary beauty are the silver stylus cross by Franco Aspro and the tabernacle, the work of Sister Agar Loche.
The weekday chapel is also interesting.
