Today, the Church celebrates the Dedication of St John Lateran Basilica in Rome. The Lateran was the Cathedral Church of the Bishop of Rome, who also happens to be the Pope, and is considered to be the “Head and Mother” of all churches in the world. It is here that the Holy Father presides as shepherd and guide of God’s people. The dedication points to the faithfulness the believers show to his authority.
St John Lateran is the oldest of the four great patriarchal basilicas of Rome. Being the Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome, this is the first in dignity among all the churches of the West. We celebrate today the dedication of this basilica built by Emperor Constantine the Great about the year 324 A.D. on the Lateran Hill in Rome where previously stood the palace of the Laterani family of nobles. The rite of dedication of a Church means it is consecrated for a singular and special purpose. Something dedicated cannot be used apart from the purpose it was dedicated to be. To do so would constitute an act of desecration or sacrilege.
