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Façade of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior at the Lateran (Credit : NikonZ7II, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica is a feast day celebrated on November 9th by the Catholic Church. The basilica is located in Rome, Italy.

This feast day celebrates the anniversary of the Dedication of Rome’s Lateran Basilica in 324 A.D. In that year, Pope Sylvester established his cathedral and residence on property given to the Church by the Emperor Constantine. As the Cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, and the Pope, it is the highest ranking church in the world. A Latin inscription in the Church reads: “omnium ecclesiarum Urbis et Orbis mater et caput.” Translated, this means, “The mother and head of all churches of the city and of the world.”

The basilica was originally named the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Savior. However, it is called St. John Lateran because it was built on property donated to the Church by the Laterani family, and because the monks from the monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Divine served it.

The first basilica on the site was built in the fourth century when Constantine donated land he had received from the wealthy Lateran family. That structure and its successors suffered fire, earthquake, and the ravages of war, but the Lateran remained the church where popes were consecrated. In the 14th century when the papacy returned to Rome from Avignon, the church and the adjoining palace were found to be in ruins.

Pope Innocent X commissioned the present structure in 1646. One of Rome’s most imposing churches, the Lateran’s towering facade is crowned with 15 colossal statues of Christ, John the Baptist, John the Evangelist, and 12 doctors of the Church. Beneath its high altar rest the remains of the small wooden table on which tradition holds Saint Peter himself celebrated Mass.

Archbasilica of St. John Lateran is one of the four major papal basilicas in Rome. The other three are, St. Peter’s Basilica, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major.