It symbolically took possession this Sunday (25) of the chair of the bishop of in the Basilica of São João de Latron, the oldest of the West. Before going to the “mother of all the churches”, where the popes lived before, the pontiff passed the capitol, headquarters of the Italian capital.
“Peace is the most powerful universal vocation in Rome,” said Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, in reference to the US Pope’s message, who condemned on several occasions since his enthronement on 18 May the armed conflicts that affect the world.
In the Basilica of St. John of Laterão, where after his election each new Pope appears to take possession of the episcopal chair, Leo XIV celebrated a mass in which he summoned the spirit of the cathedral, who according to him, must “tenderness, availability to sacrifice and listening ability that allows not only to help but often predict the needs and expectations, even though they are formulated”.
The monumental Basilica was the scenario of the signature in 1929 of the Lateran agreements between the Holy See and the regime of Benito Mussolini, which normalized the relations between the peninsula and the Vatican after the annexation of Rome, after the Italian unification.
São João de Latrão, located in a hill nearby, in the center of the Italian capital, is a fundamental place for Christians since the early centuries. Built around the year 320, it is the first of the four major papal basilicas and several important historical events occurred in the temple.
Charlemagne was baptized in the church in 774 and the temple received five councils between 1123 and 1512. In 1300, Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first jubilee in history. Until the nineteenth century, the pope’s coronation ceremony was celebrated in this basilica.
The popes moved their residence to the Vatican after a period in Avignon, France, when St. John of Latron was in poor condition.
Over the centuries, the complex has been damaged by earthquakes, fires and looting. The basilica was rebuilt four times and received, over the centuries, works by many artists.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Nátaly Tenório
