The Roman Basilica of Saint John Lateran commemorates the 1,700th anniversary of its dedication on Saturday, November 9. It is a holiday for the universal Church, because it is the headquarters (the chair) of the bishop of Rome, the supreme pontiff. The Lateran Cathedral (not St. Peter’s in the Vatican) is the cathedral of Rome.

Here are seven things to know about Lateran on its 1,700th anniversary.

Constantine, Cathedral and Council

“Los Letrán” takes its name from the family historically associated with the land; The complex of buildings on the site was known as the palace of the Lateran family, a high-ranking family in the service of several Roman emperors.

During the early Christian centuries, when the Church was illegal, it was difficult to establish formal structures. That changed with Constantine, who, in the early 4th century, first legalized Christianity and then gave it official favor. The Lateran Palace passed into his hands around the year 311; Constantine gave it to the Church in the year 313, and since then it became the seat of the bishops of Rome.

Early a meeting of bishops was held there to discuss the Donatist controversy; Lateran quickly became the center of ecclesiastical life. Pope Sylvester I established his cathedral there and dedicated it in the year 324, hence the 1,700th anniversary this year.

As the structures of the Church in Rome were physically established, the new freedom made it possible to address theological architecture as well. The first great ecumenical council would soon be organized, also under the patronage of Constantine. Next year will mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

The popes lived in the Lateran from the 4th century to the 14th century, when the papacy moved to Avignon, France, in 1309. Two fires (in 1309 and 1361) severely damaged the Lateran complex, so when the papacy returned to Rome from Avignon, the popes moved their residence and court to the Vatican. The official cathedral, however, remained in the Lateran. Thus, the Vatican has been the residence of the popes for only about 600 years. The popes lived in the Lateran for almost 1,000 years.

The ancient Lateran basilica was demolished in the 16th century and rebuilt in its current state; the current façade was completed in 1735.

rome cathedral

As the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, the Lateran is the seat of the bishop of Rome. At the entrance to the basilica, the pilgrim reads: Omnium Ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis Mater et Caput — “Mother and Head of All the Churches of the City and the World.” The unity of the entire Catholic Church with the bishop of Rome is expressed in the cathedral church of Rome.

Even today, the offices of the Diocese of Rome are located in the Lateran Palace, a building just behind the basilica.

In recent years, Pope Francis has emphasized this by often signing documents “in the Lateran” rather than “in the Vatican.” The Holy Father lives in the Vatican, but the seat of his authority is the Lateran Basilica, his cathedral.

Just as Vatican I and Vatican II were held where the Pope lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, five ecumenical councils were held in the Lateran when the Popes lived there. The First Lateran Council was held in 1119. The Fifth Lateran Council was held between 1512 and 1517 and was not a successful undertaking; The Protestant Reformation began as it ended.

The 1929 treaty between the Republic of Italy and the Holy See, which regulated the end of the Papal States and created the Vatican City State, was signed in Lateran and is known as the Lateran Treaty.

An unusual liturgical day

The anniversary of the dedication of each cathedral is a public holiday for all churches in that diocese. Since the Lateran is the cathedral of Rome, it is a feast for the entire Church, celebrated everywhere.

In fact, the feast of the Dedication of Saint John Lateran is of such importance that it surpasses Sunday in Ordinary Time. Next year that will happen. This year, since the feast falls on a Saturday, Masses celebrated on Saturday night will observe the greater feast of the Lateran dedication, rather than the lesser observance of a Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Who is Saint John Lateran?

It’s a great Catholic trivia question: Who is Saint John Lateran?

It’s a trick question. There is no such saint. The Lateran Basilica, the mother church of the entire world, was appropriately dedicated to Christ the Savior in the year 324. Much later, in the 10th century, an invocation to Saint John the Baptist was added and another in the 12th century. added Saint John the Evangelist.

The official name is therefore complicated: Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints. John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran. This is simplified in common parlance to “St. “John of Lateran.”

There are four main papal basilicas in Rome, and they are appropriately dedicated to Christ the Savior (Latrán), the Blessed Mother (St. Mary Major), and the princes of the apostles martyred in Rome (St. Peter in the Vatican). and Saint Paul Outside the Walls).

It may well be that the dedication to St. John was added later to give recognition in Rome to St. John the Baptist, whom Jesus spoke of as “the greatest born of a woman.”

still standing

Lateran is a visible expression of the Church’s passage through history. Battered and damaged, reformed and rebuilt, she stands. Lateran, near the Roman city walls, has been sacked many times by invading armies. The most recent attack was in July 1993, when the back porch was bombed by the mafia in reaction to St. John Paul the Great’s condemnation of the mafia in Sicily in May of that year.

Most of the damage to Lateran has been due to fires, floods and the deterioration of time: bulging walls, eroded foundations. That’s why it has been repaired, rebuilt and even completely rebuilt several times. Letrán no longer looks the same as before, but it has the same identity and mission.

One notable feature has endured. The great Lateran gates are taken from the Roman Forum. Probably the oldest part of the complex, the gates indicate that, while the Roman Empire died out long ago, what survives of it is what was taken up in the life of the Church.

Relics of the Passion

The most valuable part of the Lateran is no longer found inside. A few years after its dedication in 324, Saint Helena, mother of Constantine, traveled to Jerusalem and returned with the relics of the Passion.

Some of those relics are now preserved just across the street from Lateran, including the Holy Staircase — the “Holy Steps” of Pilate’s Praetorium. A short walk takes the pilgrim to the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, so called because it is meant to bring Jerusalem to Rome, so to speak. The relics of the True Cross are preserved there, as well as the instruments of the Passion: fragments of nails, thorns and a flagellation pillar.

Papal Tombs

Today there are six papal tombs in the Lateran. More popes were buried there during the first millennium, but their tombs were lost over time. Two tombs are of special interest.

Innocent III (1198-1216) reigned when Saint Francis of Assisi arrived in Rome to establish his new order. At first, Innocent was skeptical that the radicalism of the Franciscan proposal was practical. While considering the matter, Innocent had a dream in which he saw Francis supporting the Lateran Basilica. Convinced that this was a sign that Francis was needed to support a Church in need of reform, Innocent gave his approval in 1210.

Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903) is also buried in the Lateran, the last Pope not buried in St. Peter’s. (Pope Francis has also chosen to bury elsewhere, at St. Mary Majorplace he has visited more than 100 times, since the Holy Father goes there before and after each papal trip).

Leo came to the papacy when the question of the Papal States was still unresolved. Consequently, he never left the Vatican during his long 25-year papacy. Knowing that a bishop must be in his cathedral, he was determined to get there after death if he could not do so in life.

Such is the importance of the Lateran, the cathedral of the entire world, as it enters its 18th century of service.