According to legend, it is built on the site of its dedicatee's martyrdom, with the first church constructed in the 10th century, and the second (and present) church being the result of Pope Urban VIII's 1624 rebuild.
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American Cardinal Edwin Frederick O'Brien is the church's Cardinal-Deacon, created on February 18 by Pope Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Basilica.
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Originally the church was known as Santa Maria in Pallara, after the Palladium, the ancient image of Athena from Troy which - along with some of the most sacred objects in pagan Rome - was allegedly kept in a pagan temple on the same site.
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