Dedication of the Lateran Basilica

St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney
Ezek 47:1-2, 8-9, 12; 1 Cor 3:9-11, 16-17; Jn 2:13-22

+ Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney
9 Nov 2008

This is one of the strangest Catholic feasts to be celebrated on a Sunday and probably on any other day: the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.

It is strange to us as believers and strange also to outsiders, who I suppose are regularly a bit surprised when we celebrate the death through martyrdom of some of our hero saints.

Most people believe that the Pope's cathedral (a cathedral is where the bishop has his "cathedra", the Greek word for teaching chair) as bishop of Rome is St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.  While the Holy Father does live in the Vatican City State and regularly celebrates in St. Peter's, that magnificent church is not his cathedral.

The Pope's cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome and the Popes lived officially at the Lateran Palace until 1377.

In 313 the Emperor Constantine after winning the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, on the Tiber River outside ancient Rome, issued the Edict of Milan which gave religious freedom to all Christians.  Nearly three hundred years of intermittent persecution came to an end and Constantine and especially his mother the Empress Helena began to support the Christian community in many ways (although they were only a minority, perhaps 1/7 of the population), especially through constructing magnificent churches, officially recognised and public places for Christian worship.  We are used to church buildings dotted across all of our suburbs and country towns, but before Constantine there were almost no public church buildings, even small ones, to accompany the many pagan temples.

So the Lateran Basilica is the first Christian Church built in Rome on land originally owned by the Laterani family, which had come into the Emperor's possession.  It was originally the Basilica of the Saviour with the dedication to John the Baptist dating only from the time of Pope Gregory the Great around 600 A.D.

The land was given in 313 by Emperor Constantine to Pope Miltiades, who reigned for only 3 years until 314 A.D. and the Basilica has the imposing title of "mother and head of all the churches in the City (i.e. Rome) and the world".

The church has been rebuilt and altered many times, with a major redesign in 1650 although the 13th century cloister still survives.  The last major redevelopment took place towards the end of the 19th century under Pope Leo XIII.  One fascinating detail is that the main doors of the old Senate house from the Forum, the major legislative centre for the ancient Roman Empire, still serve as the main doors of the basilica.  It is one of the few remaining relics of those ancient times which are still working, although some aqueducts are also still carrying water today.

Before trying to explain the religious significance of the feast, we should acknowledge the tremendous gain to Christian people from Constantine’s granting them religious freedom.  At the recent synod of bishops in Rome we heard of those parts of the world today where Christians live under hostile pressure from governments or from extremist mobs.  Religious freedom and what we know as the separation of church and state are blessings to be vigilantly defended.

The religious importance of this feast comes from the fact that it reminds us of the central role of the successor of St. Peter, the papacy, in the worldwide unity and universality of the Catholic Church.

Paul's letter to the Corinthians emphasises that Jesus Christ is our only foundation, but in maintaining fidelity to His teachings and unity in faith, hope and love around His person, the teaching and disciplinary role of the Popes is vital, health giving.  We must acknowledge that there is nothing automatic or easy about maintaining unity.  We have only to look at the proliferation of Protestant groupings, often self contained local units, to be reminded of the achievement represented by Catholic unity.

The first reading describes one of the spectacular visions of the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel, perhaps my favourite prophet.  With his vision of the streams of living water flowing from the Temple and bringing life to the countryside, we have a wonderful image of the contribution good Catholics make to the community.  But the water has to be clean and pure so that the fish can increase and thrive and so that the trees by the rivers can produce fruit.  When the water is polluted, it is not life producing, but damaging.

Our Lord’s driving of the money changers from the Jerusalem temple is a reminder to us all of the need to remain faithful, not lapsing spectacularly from basic requirements, not perverting the major religious duties which all of us need to follow.

In today's psalm the imagery literally moves in the opposite direction to Ezekiel's vision, because in the psalm the waters of the river flow into the City of God.  We could stretch this symbolism a bit and see there the contribution of lay people to the clergy, pope, bishops and priests, through their hard work for Christian values in society, their loyalty and support for the Church leadership and their requiring the Church’s leaders to walk worthily in their vocations.

Let us conclude then by praying for the institution of the papacy and our present Holy Father, Pope Benedict, so that the Popes will continue to play their divinely ordered role in maintaining unity and in ensuring a regular supply of living water flowing from all the different and local Catholic communities into society.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.