Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

by Fr. Jess Ty  |  11/09/2025  |  Weekly Reflection

Dear Family of God,

Why celebrate the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome?

First, because it is the Episcopal Seat (the Cathedral) of the Pope as the Bishop of Rome. And so, this Church is the “Mother and Head of all Churches in Rome and the World,” according to the inscription which Pope Clement XII (1730-1740) placed in the Church.

Secondly, it is the first public Christian Church in the Roman Empire, built by Emperor Constantine after he legalized Christianity(313A.D.). It was dedicated by Pope St. Sylvester I last November 9, 324. Located on a land owned by the Laterani family, that is why the name St. John Lateran Basilica. But its official name is “The Papal Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior and Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist in the Lateran.”

Thirdly, it was the residence of the Pope since the 4th Century until their moving to Avignon in 1309, then to the Vatican in 1377. Was the site of five Ecumenical Councils, when the first Jubilee Year was proclaimed in the 1300 and the place where St. Francis of Assisi petitioned the Pope to begin the Franciscan Order.

Pope Innocent X commissioned the present structure in 1646; beneath its high altar rest the remain of a small wooden table, on which, according to tradition, St. Peter celebrated the Mass. May we all worship the Body of Christ present both in the Blessed Sacrament and in every Christian united to Jesus Christ in faith and the sacraments.

Yours in Christ through Mary Immaculate.