St. John Lateran: Symbol of church's coexistence with secular power

cns ^ | April 5, 2013 | Francis X. Rocca

[NYer]

Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in 2011. (CNS file/Paul Haring)

By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Since his first public remarks on the night of his election March 13, Pope Francis has impressed many observers with a marked preference for describing himself not as the pope but as the bishop of Rome -- a role he was scheduled to assume in a special way April 7 by celebrating his first Mass in the city's cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

While emphasizing his diocesan identity -- which is essentially symbolic, since most of his ordinary episcopal responsibilities are fulfilled by papal vicar for Rome, Cardinal Agostino Vallini -- Pope Francis has not sought to downplay his role as pastor of the universal church. In various talks over his first weeks in office, the pope has repeatedly focused on what he deems some of the most urgent global challenges for the church and humanity today, including poverty, war, environmental pollution and moral relativism.

Yet Pope Francis could have several other reasons for highlighting his role as a diocesan bishop. He may wish to signal that his pontificate will be marked by a highly pastoral agenda -- which, far from keeping him occupied with local affairs, might well lead him to travel widely as an evangelical missionary in the mold of Blessed John Paul II.

By reminding his fellow bishops that he is one of them, the pope may also be underscoring his commitment to the principle of collegiality, i.e., shared governance of the church by all the world's bishops in communion with the pope.

Whatever he may be intending, Pope Francis' prominent references to Rome are reminders that the papacy is historically linked to a specific place, people and civilization (or series of civilizations). In Christian teaching, after all, while the church is ultimately not of this world, it is called in the meantime to be very much of it.

Fittingly, the cathedral of Rome is as a kind of monument to the church's tumultuous coexistence with secular power through the millennia.

Around the time of his legalization of Christianity in 313, the Emperor Constantine gave the land on which St. John Lateran now stands (he is honored by a statue in the basilica's portico today). The church was built not on the site of a miracle or a martyr's burial, as with the city's other major basilicas, but on ground formerly dedicated to profane uses: a military barracks and the palace of a prominent pagan family, the Laterani.

In a surviving portion of the ancient papal palace, two mosaics illustrate a medieval ideal of ecclesiastical and temporal rulers, both wielding God-given power: Christ gives St. Peter the keys of heaven and earth, and Constantine a banner symbolizing his authority as emperor; St. Peter gives a stole to the early ninth-century Pope Leo III and a banner to his contemporary Emperor Charlemagne.

This vision of harmony did not always describe reality, to say the least, and the Lateran's thousand-year run as the residence of the popes ended with the "Babylonian captivity" of the Avignon papacy, from 1309 to 1376, when the popes lived in France under the influence of French kings -- and the Lateran palace fell into decay. After the papacy returned to Rome, the city's bishops never moved back to the Lateran.

Ironically, French heads of state today enjoy a singular privilege at the Lateran, as honorary canons of the basilica, a tradition that began with King Henry IV (1553-1610), whose conversion from Protestantism made possible his ascent to the throne. In 2007, then-President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a widely noted speech at the Lateran, arguing that his strongly secular nation should not deny its Christian roots.

The Lateran gave its name to the 1929 pacts between the Holy See and the Italian state guaranteeing the sovereignty of Vatican City State. Since then, the term "Vatican" has been practically a synonym for the papacy. But as the vicissitudes of the Lateran make clear, such associations are not among the church's eternal truths, merely part of its rich and illuminating history.

[NYer]

From Vatican Radio

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Pope Francis to take possession of the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the “cathedra” of the Bishop of Rome

This coming Sunday, the 7^th of April, which is also Divine Mercy Sunday, Pope Francis will celebrate an evening Mass at the basilica of St. John Lateran, and formally take possession of the “cathedra” of the Bishop of Rome. A recently published schedule of liturgical events at which the Pope Francis will preside in April and May also lists a series of regular Sunday masses, primarily in St. Peter’s Square or the Vatican Basilica, and visits to the other major basilicas of Rome.
The Calendar of celebrations made public by Monsignor Guido Marini, Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, revealed that Pope Francis will celebrate Mass on 14 April in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, and preside over Mass and priestly ordinations on 21 April in St. Peter’s Basilica. He will also preside over Mass and confirmations in St. Peter’s Basilica on 28 April.
Here is the full schedule:

On April 7, the 2nd Sunday of Easter and feast of Divine Mercy, the Pope will celebrate an evening Mass at the basilica of St. John Lateran, and formally take possession of the “cathedra” of the Bishop of Rome.
On April 14, the 3rd Sunday of the Easter season, the Pope will celebrate Mass at the basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Wall.
On April 21, the Pope will celebrate Mass and ordain men to the priesthood in St. Peter’s basilica.
On April 28, the Pope will again celebrate Mass in the Vatican basilica, this time administering the sacrament of Confirmation.
On Saturday, May 4, the Pope will lead the Rosary at the basilica of St. Mary Major.
On Sunday, May 5, the Pope will celebrate Mass for confraternities in St. Peter’s Square.
On Sunday, May 12, Pope Francis will preside at the canonization of Blessed Antonio Primaldo and companions; Blessed Laura di Santa Caterina da Siena Montoya y Upegui; and Blessed Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zalava.
On Saturday evening, may 18, the Pope will lead the vigil of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Square with members of ecclesial movements.
On Pentecost Sunday, May 19, the Pope will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

[D-fendr]

Thanks for another very interesting post.

[Salvation]

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