Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

Feast Day: November 9

The feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of the Most Holy Saviour at the Lateran, celebrated on November 9th, honours the oldest and most important of all the churches in Christendom, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome, which is the mother church of all Catholic churches throughout the world. Its full title, the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and John the Evangelist at the Lateran, reflects the multiple dedications it has received over the centuries, but it is commonly known as the Lateran Basilica or Saint John Lateran.

The basilica was built by the Emperor Constantine on the site of the Lateran palace, which had been given to Pope Miltiades after the Edict of Milan in 313 made Christianity a legal religion within the Roman Empire. It was consecrated by Pope Miltiades on November 9, 324, making this one of the earliest precisely dated events in papal history and one of the most significant moments in the history of the Church's public existence in the world. For the first time the Church could worship openly and build publicly.

The Lateran Basilica has been the site of many of the most important events in the history of the Church. Five of the great ecumenical councils of the medieval period were held there: the First through Fourth Lateran Councils of 1123, 1139, 1179, and 1215, and the Fifth Lateran Council of 1512 to 1517. The baptistery attached to the basilica, one of the oldest in Christendom, has been the model for baptisteries throughout the Western church.

The celebration of this feast throughout the universal Church since the twelfth century is an expression of Catholic unity: by honouring the mother church of Rome all the churches of the world affirm their communion with the See of Peter and with one another in the one holy Catholic and apostolic Church.