The Mother of All Churches

In the first few centuries of the Christian Church, when the threat of persecution was never far away, Christian communities very often gathered in private homes for the “Breaking of the Bread,” the celebration of the Eucharist.

Around the time Constantine definitively lifted the threat of persecution, he also gave the Church a new, somewhat larger house in which to gather: a palace that had been confiscated by one of his predecessors from a wealthy family. The Bishop of Rome dedicated it as the cathedral or chief church of the city on this very day in the year 324.

Over the centuries, it was rebuilt and renovated a number of times and in recognition of the Bishop of Rome’s worldwide ministry eventually became known as "Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater, et caput" – “Mother and head of all churches of the city and the world.”

The church was dedicated to the memory of St. John and retains the name of the family that had once lived there. The anniversary of the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran is celebrated throughout the world as a symbol of the oneness of the universal Church.