The Roman Basilica of St. John Lateran celebrates the 1,700th anniversary of its opening on Saturday, November 9. is celebrating its anniversary. This is a feast day for the universal Church, because it cathedral) Bishop of Rome, the highest priest. The Lateran – not St. Peter’s in the Vatican – is Rome’s cathedral.

Here are 1,700 of the Lateran. Seven things you need to know on your anniversary.

Constantine, Cathedral and Council

“Lateran” takes its name from the family historically associated with the land; The complex of buildings at the site was known as the palace of the Laterani family, a high-ranking family that served many Roman emperors.

In the early Christian centuries, when the church was illegal, it was difficult to establish official structures. This changed with Constantine, who first legalized Christianity and then gave it official support in the early fourth century. The Lateran Palace fell to him around 311; Constantine gave it to the Church in 313, and it has been the residence of the bishops of Rome ever since.

Initially, a meeting of bishops was held to discuss this issue. donor controversy; Lateran soon became the center of religious life. Pope Sylvester I founded his cathedral here and dedicated it in 324; hence 1,700 this year. anniversary.

While church structures were being physically established in Rome, the new freedom made it possible to turn to theological architecture as well. The first great ecumenical council, also under the auspices of Constantine, was soon to be convened. The 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea will be celebrated next year.

Popes lived in the Lateran from the fourth century until 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 shifted their residence and court to the Vatican. However, the official cathedral remained in the Lateran. Thus, the Vatican has long been the residence of the popes. Only about 600 years. Popes lived in Lateran for nearly 1000 years.

The old Lateran Basilica was destroyed in the 16th century and rebuilt in its current form; The current facade was completed in 1735.

Roman Cathedral

The Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, is the seat of the bishop of Rome. At the entrance to the basilica the pilgrim reads: Omnium Ecclesiarum Urbis and Orbis Mater and Caput — “Mother and Head of All the Churches in 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 Bishop of Rome are located in the Lateran Palace, just behind the basilica.

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

Just as Vatican I and Vatican II were held in the place where the popes lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, five ecumenical councils were held in Lateran, where the popes lived. The First Lateran Council was held in 1119. Lateran V was built in 1512-1517 and was not a successful attempt; The Protestant Reformation began just as it ended.

The 1929 treaty between the Republic of Italy and the Vatican, 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 Religious Day

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

In fact, the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran is of such great importance that it eclipses Sunday in Ordinary Time. This will happen next year. This year, since the feast falls on Saturday, Masses celebrated on Saturday evening will celebrate the greater feast of the dedication of the Lateran, rather than the lesser celebration of Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Who is St. John Lateran?

This is the perfect Catholic trivia question: Who is St. John Lateran?

This is a trick question. There is no such saint. The Lateran Basilica, the mother church of the entire world, was fittingly dedicated to Christ the Savior in 324. Much later, in the 10th century, a dedication to John the Baptist was added, and another dedication was added in the 12th century. added St. John the Evangelist.

Hence the official name is a mouthful: Pontifical Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Sts. John the Baptist and the Evangelist in the Lateran. This is, in common parlance, “St. It was John Lateran.”

There are four major papal basilicas in Rome, dedicated to Christ the Savior (Lateran), the Blessed Mother (St. Mary), and the princes of the martyred apostles in Rome (St. Peter in the Vatican). and St. Paul Outside the Walls).

The dedication to St. John may have been added later to ensure recognition in Rome of John the Baptist, whom Jesus referred to as “the greatest of women.”

Still Standing

The Lateran is a visible expression of the Church’s transition through history. Battered and damaged, rearranged and rebuilt; is standing. The Lateran, near the Roman city walls, was sacked many times by invading armies. The last attack was in July 1993, on Greater St. The rear portico was bombed by the mob in response to John Paul’s condemnation of the mafia in Sicily in May of that year.

Most of the destruction in the Lateran is caused by fires, floods and the degradation of time; walls are coming out, foundations are eroding. So it was repaired, rebuilt, or even completely rebuilt several times. Lateran doesn’t look the same as before, but it has the same identity and mission.

One notable feature remained. The great gates of the Lateran are taken from the Roman Forum. Possibly the oldest part of the complex, the gates show that although the Roman Empire is long gone, what remains is what took place in the life of the Church.

Remnants of Passion

The most valuable part of the Lateran is no longer contained within it. Just a few years after its dedication in 324, Constantine’s mother died in St. Helena went to Jerusalem and returned with the remains of the Passion.

Some of these relics are now kept just opposite the Lateran. Scala Santa Claus — “Holy Steps” from Pilate’s praetorium. With a short walk, the pilgrim reaches the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem; This basilica took this name because it aimed to bring Jerusalem to Rome as it was. The tools of the Passion (shards of nails, thorns and the whipping column) are preserved, as well as the relics of the True Cross.

Papal Tombs

Today there are six papal tombs in the Lateran. More popes were buried here in the first millennium, but their tombs were lost over time. Two tombs are particularly noteworthy.

Innocentius III (1198-1216) reigned when St. Francis of Assisi came to Rome to establish his new order. Innocent was initially skeptical that the radicalism of the Franciscans’ proposal was practical. While Innocent was pondering the matter, he had a dream in which he saw Francis standing up 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) was also buried in the Lateran, the last pope not buried in St. Peter’s. (Pope Francis also chose to bury Elsewhere, St. in Mary MajorIt is a place he has visited more than 100 times, because the Holy Father goes there before and after every papal trip.)

Leo came to the papacy while the question of the Papal States had not yet been resolved. As a result, he never left the Vatican during his 25-year long papacy. Knowing that it belonged to a bishop’s cathedral, he was determined to go there in death if he could not make it in life.

Such is the importance of the Lateran, the cathedral of the whole world, at the beginning of the 18th century.