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Following into the footsteps of the project “St. Peter’s Basilica: AI-Enhanced Experience”, this new initiative dedicated to students around the world combines innovation and tradition.

St. Peter’s Basilica and Minecraft Education, Microsoft’s platform for schools, launch “Peter Is Here”, a new interactive learning experience.
Play St. Peter’s, learn St. Peter’s, transform St. Peter’s. Now you can do it with the video game designed for students that lets you see the world’s largest Basilica as no one has ever seen it. Very close up. In history, in culture, in spirituality.

Top experience, super fun. “Peter is here” is an innovative project that brings the heritage of St. Peter’s Basilica to life, making it more accessible to the children of 2025 by immersing them in the interactive virtual world of Minecraft, the hugely popular brick game.

Born out of a collaboration between Fabbrica di San Pietro and Minecraft Education, the game offers a unique educational opportunity: students explore the Basilica, its history and its community, taking on hands-on challenges as artisans and restorers.
In addition to offering a STEM educational experience, “Peter is Here” excludes virtual isolation and instead promotes a sense of community and collaboration, enhancing the care of cultural heritage.

The Basilica becomes a meeting point between tradition and technology, projecting young people within an engaging and interactive educational experience in which adults can also receive important insights and reflection.
The game provides materials for teachers, students and parents, encouraging collabo¬ration, teamwork and comparison. It includes group tasks inspired by real restoration, guided discussions on the meaning of activities, and documentation tools such as Portfolio and Book and Quill, allowing students to record and share reflections. Thus learning is shared.

The platform now has a reach of about 35 million students and teachers, in 115 countries around the world, and can be used in 27 languages.
Capitalizing on the experience of the project presented in November The Basilica of St. Peter’s: AI-Enhanced Experience, “Peter Is Here” invites students to explore the history of the Basilica through key events, try their hand at restoration challenges and discover the intersection of cultural heritage and modern innovation. The project was presented March 18 at the Foreign Press Room in Rome.

“This experience aims to accompany students to discover the fascinating and multiform spiritual, artistic and architectural reality enshrined in St. Peter’s Basilica, a place where the faith of countless generations has shaped a space of elevation and dialogue between the human and the divine. It is my hope that the gaming experience presented here can foster, thanks to the many opportunities offered by the platform, an authentic immersion in this journey of knowledge and reflection,” said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter’s in the Vatican, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City, and President of the Fabbrica di San Pietro.

“Today’s milestone represents a natural and important extension of Microsoft’s partnership with the Vatican and another big step forward,” said Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chairman and President. “We have been able to deliver the culture, religion and heritage of this wonderful institution into the hands of children in every country in the world.”

“Peter Is Here” leverages Artificial Intelligence in powerful and creative ways, combining history and innovation to educate and inspire. This interactive experience allows students to explore St. Peter’s Basilica and its historical development, using AI-based tools to discover the stories behind its architecture and art. Microsoft Copilot was employed to research and inform the historical experiences within the game, while Microsoft Designer was used to conceptualize the game’s assets. Microsoft Visual Studio, GitHub Copilot, and Azure OpenAI GPT-4.0 were also used.

Catholic schools around the world and schools throughout Italy will be among the first to integrate the Minecraft Education experience into their curriculum. Dr. Mauro Antonelli, Chief of the Technical Secretariat of the Ministry of Education and Merit, attended the launch event along with Monsignor Carlo Maria Polvani, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Father Enzo Fortunato, president of the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day and editorial director of the magazine “St. Peter’s Square,” said, “I will ask Minecraft Education that this can be the official game for the second World Children’s Day in September 2026. We plan to organize a whole day of play involving parents, children and grandparents to discover one of the main places of our faith.”

Pupils from the FIDAE Network of Schools, with representation from the Massimo Institute, are involved in the project from the very beginning thanks to the support that MR Digital, a leading system integrator in the education sector, offers to educational institutions in the management and configuration of the game and in the training of teachers who guide the students in this new adventure to discover St. Peter’s Basilica.

Students from the Istituto Massimo had the opportunity to show how to play Peter Is Here, and to share what they learned through virtual exploration with those present at the press conference.

Peter is Here is available to all licensed users in the Minecraft Education lesson library. Students and teachers can access a free trial version of Minecraft Education by downloading the app and logging in with their Office 365 or Microsoft 365 Education account. Teachers also have access to a classroom-ready PowerPoint with structured instructions and student workbooks that encourage engagement and contextual understanding of each restorative site.

Last November, Microsoft and La Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican City launched La Basilica di San Pietro, a digital and physical exhibit that leverages cutting-edge AI technology to enable visitors to connect with the Basilica in new ways. The exhibition was inaugurated on the eve of Jubilee 2025, the “Jubilee of Hope,” which is expected to attract 30 million more tourists to Italy.

Article by Goffredo de Marchis

“Peter is Here” is quoted at the TG1 (in Italian)