Why history? We can stumble through this Sunday bewildered, or we can actually find out why we’re celebrating the dedication of a building. Really? A building?
 
First, the Lateran Basilica’s official name is the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. It’s the oldest of the Roman papal basilicas, the seat of the diocese of the Bishop of Rome. Located outside the walls of Vatican City, it still belongs to the Holy See.

Like just about every major building in Rome, it was built over earlier sites—a new fort in the second century, then a palace for imperial administrators of the Lateranus family. But when the property came into the hands of the emperor Constantine (who had become a Christian), he eventually gave it to the Bishop of Rome some time in the fourth century. Having a large building (basilica) for worship was a huge step forward for recognition of the followers of Jesus. (Liturgically, though, it replaced intimacy with grandeur, simplicity with pomp and circumstance.)

The Lateran Basilica was dedicated to St. John the Baptist in the tenth century and to St. John the Evangelist two centuries later. They are regarded as co-patrons, with Christ as chief patron. The building was destroyed by fire twice, then torn down and replaced, and reconstructed, and added to, century by century. The present facade dates to the early 18th century. Many popes were buried there; six tombs remain inside.

Why celebrate the dedication of this particular building? Inscribed on the front wall are the words Sacrosancta Lateranensis ecclesia omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput—meaning "Most Holy Lateran Church, the mother and head of all the churches in the city and in the world." Yes, it’s considered the mother church of the entire inhabited world.

M.D. Ridge