By Dominic Redcliffe

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Hello from Rome to all of you at home.

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If you asked a question on a game show like Pointless, for example, “Name a church in Rome” what would be your first response? If you answered “St Peters”, your reply would definitely not be pointless! Another answer could be the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, which is just on the other side of the Viale di San Paolo from my college. This month I thought I’d write about another church, the Basilica of St John Lateran. Throughout the year, the church remembers special days associated with Jesus, Our Lady, and many different saints, but on 9 November, the Church celebrates a church with the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. If you’re in Rome, take either Metro line A or C to the station at San Giovanni and when coming up from underground, you will see the huge cream-coloured façade of the basilica.

 

Why does a building have its own feast? The story begins with Emperor Constantine’s ‘Edict of Milan’ in 313, which gave Christians freedom to practise their faith. Constantine provided the Lateran site for the construction of the basilica with dedication taking place in 324. This makes it the oldest public church in Rome, and it is officially the Mother and Head of All Churches in the City and the World – that’s quite a title to have! Over the centuries, fires and age took their toll, and the basilica was rebuilt from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. To this day, the basilica serves as the Cathedral of Rome and, as such, the ‘seat’ of the Bishop of Rome, who is, of course, Pope Leo XIV.

 

In our archdiocese, the Metropolitan Cathedral in Liverpool and St Mary of the Isle Co-Cathedral in Douglas are the seats of Archbishop Sherrington. Whether it is a cathedral in Rome or closer to us at home, these church buildings function as a sign of the local Church gathered around its bishop. Pope Leo XIV reflected on this for the 2025 feast day, describing the Lateran as much more than a monument: “It is a sign of the living Church, built upon Christ the cornerstone.”

 

That’s something we can all remember about our own churches, whether they are great cathedrals or our own parish churches. The building may be old, modest or magnificent, but what matters most is the community that gathers there to encounter Christ. St John the Baptist and St John the Evangelist, pray for us.

 

Until next time,

Dominic