Vicariate of Rome
Office for Social Communications

PRESS RELEASE

DEDICATION OF THE BASILICA OF SAINT JOHN LATERAN
WITH POPE LEO XIV

Celebration on Sunday 9 November at 9.30

On the occasion of the feast of the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, Sunday 9 November, at 9.30, Pope Leo XIV will preside over the solemn Eucharistic celebration at Saint John Lateran. The liturgy will be animated by the Choir of the diocese of Rome and the Sistine Chapel Choir.

For the occasion, entry into the Basilica will be permitted from 7 to 8.45. Access to the celebration will be permitted to the faithful with a ticket, free of charge and still in distribution – without the need to book – at the Liturgical Office of the Vicariate, until Thursday 6 November (second floor, room 18). The priests of the diocese who wish to concelebrate must also collect a ticket, subject to availability of places. In particular, the priests who celebrate their jubilees – that is, the tenth, fiftieth and seventieth anniversary of their ordination – are invited to concelebrate.

Dedicated on 9 November 324 by Pope Sylvester I following its construction and financing by the emperor Constantine, the Lateran Basilica was the first church in which Christians were freely and publicly able to perform their liturgies. Initially it was dedicated to the Holy Saviour; then Pope Sergio III, in the ninth century, added the dedication to Saint John the Baptist; finally, Pope Lucius iI, in the seventh century, also included Saint John the Evangelist. Indeed, its complete name is the Papal Archbasilica of the Holy Saviour and of Saints John the Baptist and Evangelist at the Lateran. It also has the title of Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput, or rather “Mother and Head of all the Churches of the City and of the World”.

Accreditation procedure – Journalists and media operators who wish to attend must apply no later than 24 hours before the event, via the Holy See Press Office online accreditation system, at: press.vatican.va/accreditamenti.

3 November 2025