What are the Papal Basilicas?

Among the most popular attractions in Rome are the four churches known as “Papal Basilicas”: 1) St. John Lateran, 2) St. Peter’s, 3) St. Mary Major, and 4) St. Paul Outside the Walls.  All of these posses a long and interesting history, beautiful architecture, and important relics.  Because of their significance, over a series of five articles we will explore these churches.  Here, we begin by investigating what is meant by the term Papal Basilica.

In general, the word “basilica” is used either to indicate an architectural style or as a title designating the special status a church possesses.  The basilican architectural form arose in the Roman empire.  A basilica is basically a large rectangular building with an apse at the short side of the structure which is furthest from the entrance.  Often there was a raised platform in the apse.  The latin word basilica is derived from the greek basilike stoa, which literally means “kingly walkway”.  As such, a basilica originally referred to the court chamber of the king.  The place for the king was the raised platform in the apse.  Between 200 BC and 300 AD, numerous basilicas were built in Rome, many of them around the forum area.  The ruins of these buildings are still visible today.  These structures were used as public halls for secular events such as court sessions, public talks and even business transactions.  As the number of Christians in the Roman Empire grew, they eventually needed special buildings to hold their liturgies.  The well known basilica style was used by the Church for this very purpose. Whereas a human king used to be on the raised platform in the apse, in these new basilica churches, the King of Kings, Jesus, was now present on the altar in the celebration of the Mass.  Though few of the Papal Basilicas still retain this architectural style, originally they were built in the basilican form.

The word “basilica” is also a title given by Popes to significant churches around the world.  The four Papal Basilicas are known as Major Basilicas.  The vast majority of other basilicas around the world, including those in Canada (ex. St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal) are called Minor Basilicas.  Each of the Papal Basilicas has a Holy Door.  When a pilgrim visits one of the Papal Basilicas, he or she is able to receive a special Roman Jubilee.  Further, each is assigned to one of the Patriarchs of the Catholic Church, who traditionally were understood as governing over an ecclesiastical territory.  Therefore, taken together the Papal Basilicas symbolize the unity of the Church.  With respect to law, the Papal Basilicas are related to the Pope in a special way.  St. Peter’s is in the State of Vatican City, of which the Pope is the head.  The other three Papal Basilicas, even though found within Italian territory, still have a special relationship to the Vatican City as they enjoy “extraterritorial status” under the Lateran Treaty (1929).  In subsequent articles we will investigate what makes each of the Papal Basilicas unique and interesting.

St. John Lateran

St. Peter's

St. Mary Major

St. Paul Outside the Walls

Qoheleth says "All is vanity!" But what does this even mean?

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).  For many, this well-known phrase sums up the message that the narrator of the book Ecclesiastes, Qoheleth, is trying to present.  Qoheleth looks out at the world and concludes that all he sees is vanity.  He challenges his audience to reconsider the value of things that they unquestionably accepted as good.  To paraphrase, Qoheleth argues like this.  “You think that it is better to be wise than foolish?  But I have seen that the ultimate fate of the wise and the fool is the same: death.  Why then should we bother being wise?”  We could express the mindset of Qoheleth by imagining how he might question one of our accepted Christian values.  “You think that God is loving?  But, I have seen young children die from cancer. How can you say that God is loving?  Life is meaningless.”

Though many scholars consider the message of Qoheleth to be incredibly pessimistic, numerous others view the book quite differently.  How one interprets Qoheleth’s message depends greatly on how one translates a word that is often repeated in the original Hebrew text of the book: hebel.  Hebel, which literally means “vapour”, is most commonly translated as “vanity”.  Some, assigning an even more negative connotation to the word, translate it as “futility” or “meaningless”.  Others, however, argue that hebel really means something like “enigmatic”.  Understanding hebel in this way gives Qoheleth a very different message.  Qoheleth does not want us to have a naive understanding of the world.  He challenges us to realize that there is much that does not make sense or fit our idea of how God should act.  For example, innocent people suffer while the evil prosper.  Life is full of such enigmas and paradoxes.  If we do not realize that there are things we cannot hope to understand, then we are foolish.  Qohelth teaches us to appreciate life, which is a gift from God, is spite of its enigmatic nature.  Far from being pessimistic, the vision of Qoheleth is rooted in a realistic faith.

This message is important to hear.  Questioning how a loving God can allow the innocent to suffer does not mean that we lack faith.  At times we give suffering people overly simplistic advice which can do more harm than good.  “If you just prayed more, it would make sense!” or “You are suffering, but you just need to offer it up!”  No, Qoheleth wants us to avoid thinking that we can understand everything.  Some things do not make sense and cause us to question our faith.  In spite of this unavoidable aspect of human existence, Qoheleth encourages us not to give up.  The solution is not to ignore the paradoxes but to accept that they are a part of life.  We need to wrestle with them.  At the same time, there is always goodness in life that comes from God.  Regardless of what we are going through, we are called to search for this goodness and appreciate it as a gift.

How does Jesus appear to me? Two different ways God intervenes in our life

During the Easter season we read at Mass different stories describing how Jesus appeared to His disciples.  When considering these stories, we can ask, “but… how does Jesus appear to me?”  Even in the Gospels, we see that there are variations in Jesus’ appearances.  Sometimes He shows Himself in a direct and bold way, like with Mary Magdalene at the tomb or the apostles in the upper Room.  At other times, however, Jesus appears to people in a gentler, more indirect manner.  This was the case with the disciples along the road to Emmaus.  They walked with Jesus and never knew it was Him until they finally recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.

In the Old Testament, God intervenes in people’s lives in two main ways, one forceful, the other less direct.  When God revealed Himself to the prophets, He did so in a powerful way.  Think of Moses at the burning bush or the dream of Isaiah when he was first called to be a prophet.  They had no doubt that they met God.  As a result of God’s powerful intervention in their lives, they spoke His words to people in an equally bold and direct way.  They passed on God’s revelation in the same way that they received it.  In what we call the Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Sirach and the Wisdom of Solomon), however, we see a very different way of perceiving God’s revelation than with the prophets.  There are no visions or fantastic dreams.  Rather, the sages who wrote these works began by observing nature and human experience.  Grounded in the belief that all this was made by God, they were able to perceive an order in creation.  They then became convinced that the best way to live was in accord with this order.  In transmitting what they discovered to others, they used a very different mode than the prophets.  They did not speak forcefully.  Rather, they expressed the revelation they had perceived in creation through proverbs and beautifully constructed poems and stories.  In this way, they led their audience to ask questions, ponder and discover for themselves the order that they had found and choose to live in accord with it.

God sometimes speaks to us like He did to the prophets.  When describing how they knew what important decision to make in life, some explain that they had an incredible experience.  For example, maybe someone knew that their spouse was the right person to marry after having a profound and moving experience on a retreat.  Oftentimes, however, God reveals himself to us as he did to the sages who wrote the Wisdom Literature.  If we take the time to prayerfully ponder creation and our experiences, we too can perceive the order in it that comes from God.  We discover slowly which actions will lead to our well-being and the well-being of those around us.  God reveals Himself in different ways. No way is better than another.  The important thing is to approach life prayerfully, with an open heart and mind, confident in the fact that God is indeed revealing Himself to us.