Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, feast 9th November

This Monday is the feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the first Christian church built in Rome (c. 324) after Constantine legalised Christianity. It is the cathedral of the diocese of Rome, and therefore the Pope’s church as Bishop of Rome. As Pope Benedict XVI observed on this feast day in 2008: “honouring the holy building [of St John Lateran] is meant as an expression of love and veneration for the Roman Church ‘which’, as St Ignatius of Antioch affirms, ‘presides in charity’ over the entire Catholic communion.” Pope Leo, when he celebrated Mass for the first time in this his cathedral church after his election last year, stated: “The Church of Rome is heir to a great history, grounded in the witness of Peter, Paul and countless martyrs, and it has a unique mission, as we see from the inscription on the façade of this Cathedral: to be Mater omnium Ecclesiarum, Mother of all the Churches.” May we ourselves be faithful children of such a mother, and, as we honour this noble and ancient church, honour also the Successor of St Peter whose church it is, recalling the solemn words of Our Divine Redeemer: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church”  (Matt. 16:18).