Today we celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica. When I was still in formation, I remember a rather caustic comment made by the celebrant of our daily Eucharist. He said, “I cannot understand why should we celebrate a dedication of a building”? I didn’t know better then and I had an uneasy feeling whenever we had to celebrate this feast. Just for information, apart from this dedication today, we also have the optional memorials of the Chair of St Peter on 22nd Feb, the Dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major on 5th August and later this month, we’ll have the dedication of the Basilicas of St Peter and St Paul.Now that I have a better understanding, I want to share it with you. Many of us think that the Basilica of St Peter is the “capital” of the whole Church but it is not. Every Bishop has a cathedral and it is the mother church of a diocese. The word “cathedral” comes from the Latin “cathedra” which means “chair”. Thus, the cathedral is the bishop’s official “seat”. It is the church where he is consecrated and traditionally where he ordains, confirms and celebrates the liturgy of the Sacred Triduum. St Peter is not the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. St John Lateran is. This “church” was originally a family home of a Roman patrician family. When Constantine became a Christian, and after the Edict of Milan was issued, Christians were allowed to practise their faith publicly. It was Constantine who donated the palace, which he had confiscated as a result of conspiracy against him, to the Pope. It was adapted for church use and consecrated on 9th Nov in AD324 by Pope St Sylvester and for the next 1000 years, the Bishop of Rome resided officially in that church. At first, the church was called the Basilica of the Saviour confirming Christ’s superiority over Rome’s pagan gods. Later it was also dedicated to St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist and as such it acquired the name Basilica of St. John Lateran. When the Pope was exiled to Avignon in the South of France for about a century, the church fell into disrepair and when the Pope returned to Rome, it was too run down to be used. And that sort of explains why the Pope now resides next to St Peter’s Basilica.
If the Pope no longer resides in St John Lateran, what then is the significance of this building that we celebrate? The significance lies in the fact it is the first church dedicated in the world. Before this, Christians were persecuted and they worshipped underground. As the first dedicated church, there is an inscription on the façade that reads “omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater et caput,” meaning “the mother and mistress of all churches of Rome and the world.” Over the centuries, the Basilica suffered much destruction. The barbaric Vandals attacked the Basilica in 408 and 455. Earthquake almost totally destroyed the church in 896. Fire gutted the church in 1308 and 1360. The vicissitudes or the cycles of destruction and reconstruction may symbolise the Church as she went through history hated, attacked and somehow she prevailed—a sign that Christ has kept His promise to be with His Church.
Another significance of celebrating the dedication of the Pope’s cathedral is that it expresses our unity with him. The announcement at Holy Communion that it is a sign of our unity with the Church means that when we receive Holy Communion, apart from believing that it is truly the Body of Christ we receive, it also signifies that we are united in teaching and under the leadership of the Pope. In the Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians he describes the Church as the Body of Christ made up of different parts but all united into one Body. This unity is visible through our communion with the Vicar of Christ, the Bishop of Rome.
Furthermore, Ezekiel, in the first reading, gives us a vision of a river flowing from the Temple in Jerusalem and wherever it flowed, life is to be found in abundance. The Church is the channel of life-giving grace from Christ because He is the cornerstone. When we make Him the cornerstone of our faith, we receive His grace coming to us through His Church especially through the celebration of the Sacraments. We celebrate the same sacraments as the Pope and a powerful symbol that we possess the same sacraments is experienced in the universal commemoration of the dedication of the church of the Bishop of Rome.
However, we are schooled in the idea that the Church is more "people" than "building". Traditional Catholics tend to focus on too narrow an understanding of faith in Christ which is basically restricted to “God and I”. “God and I” is found in church. But, the last 40 years and with the help of Liberation Theology, we have begun to understand that "God and I" are inclusive of our neighbour and our neighbours are to be found in and more so outside the church building. The idea of church as building tends to narrow our view to the narrow “God and I” perspective. That may be true but the insistence that church is more than "people" may also be an over-reaction to the point that the physical church building is no longer important. As a result, we can celebrate Mass everywhere and we do.
The problem is, when we desacralise the church—the building, very soon, life itself will be desacralised. There is perhaps a connexion between the desacralisation of church buildings and abortion. Furthermore, that there is sacred space is consistent with who we are. How so? Can you imagine a couple and they build a room whose walls are made of glass and you can see the bed and what goes on in bed? The point is some of the things that they do must never be seen in public. What does this mean? When no building or space is sacred anymore, the sanctity of the womb can be violated.
Whether we like it or not, our appreciation of “space” is demarcated. Therefore, the priest who made the comment about “why are we celebrating the dedication of a building?”, well-intentioned as he maybe, has missed the point. So it is too, those who believe that the people are more important than the building. We are marked by space and some spaces are sacred. This is sacramentality at work. Therefore, a church building is very important. People who dress inappropriately do not understand sacramentality. It is not about stifling the freedom of expression. It is simply inappropriate considering that we are “space-bound”.
St Augustine describes the “church” building as an outward sign of who we are interiorly. "What was done here, as these walls were rising, is reproduced when we bring together those who believe in Christ. For, by believing they are hewn out, as it were, from mountains and forests, like stones and timber; but by catechising, baptism and instruction they are, as it were, shaped, squared and planed by the hands of the workers and artisans. Nevertheless, they do not make a house for the Lord until they are fitted together through love" (St. Augustine, Sermon 36).
The memory of the dedication of the Mother Church of Christianity is a sacramental expression of our relationship with Christ. It helps us to look at the larger picture. If we love Christ, then we will love His Church—despite the ugliness of her sons and daughters. So, today we pray that those who lost faith on account of Christian people may discover the Church as the Mother who will lead them to Christ the cornerstone and the source of life.
