November 10, 2014
I’m willing to bet that if I asked, which church is the pope’s cathedral, the response would be St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s a reasonable answer since most of the time when we see the Holy Father presiding at liturgies at the Vatican we see him at St. Peter’s. But the pope is the Bishop of Rome and his cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. How come? This question is asked as Nov. 9 we celebrated this great church and many remain unaware that the pope’s cathedral, and his cathedra, the place from which he teaches, is at the Lateran Basilica.
The Basilica of St. John Lateran, and we are celebrating the Cathedral today in our liturgies, if not the oldest church in Christendom is certainly one of them. The basilica is the episcopal seat of the pope.
Originally the Basilica was known as the Church of the Savior. And was built early in the 300s. It is called the Lateran Basilica because it was built on a site that was formerly occupied by an early Roman family known as the Laterani. The emperor Constantine gave the property to the Church. In those days the popes lived in the Lateran, and did so from the 4th century until the papacy was moved to Avignon in France in 1309. It was not until 1378 that Gregory XI ordered the papacy to return to Rome. It was the disagreement of the French cardinals at the time that caused what became known as the Great Schism. The Church at the time was in crisis because two and eventually three people claimed papal authority.
In the meantime, like many older buildings, the basilica suffered through two fires, an earthquake and barbarian attacks. The fires occurred in 1306 and again in 1360. From that time until Pope Clement VII ordered a baroque renovation in the late 1500’s, the basilica was largely in disrepair. Since that time the repair and renewal of the pope’s cathedral has gone on unceasingly. Today it is the first among the four Roman basilicas and because it is the pope’s cathedral it is also known as an arch-basilica. Its official title is: arch-basilica of the Most Holy Savior and St. John the Baptist and Evangelist in the Lateran.