There was a time when the church had five Fathers

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

Second in a series
(Read part one in the Nov. 9, 2007 issue)

"It's a really, really big church."

St. John Lateran, St. Peter's, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major are the four major basilicas of Rome. They also, along with one other, are patriarchal basilicas. This means they were considered the Roman churches of the five Patriarchs of the ancient capitals of the church.

In the first centuries, there developed five Patriarchs of the church. These were leaders of a certain important area that, by tradition, had been founded by one of the apostles. "Patriarch" (from the Greek word pater for "father" and archon for "leader") only became an official title gradually, in the same way that the title of "pope" (also derived from the Latin papa for "father") developed gradually.

The Council of Nicea (in 325) recognized three patriarchs: Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. These were vibrant Christian centers of the time:

Rome, of course, holds primacy of place among centers of Christianity, since both Peter and Paul evangelized and were martyred there. Rome was the center of the world when the church was founded, and remained so until the fall of the city in 476. Even though the Roman empire's power had moved east to Constantinople, starting in the fourth century, Rome remained the head of the church.

Alexandria was a vibrant port city in Egypt and had the largest Jewish population in the world at the time of the early church. It was also a great center of learning, and became such in the Christian world as well. It was considered to be the second Christian city, after Rome. Tradition says that it was evangelized by St. Mark.

Antioch in Syria was a major center of support for St. Paul's missionary activity. It was the major Roman city in the province of Syria and the place where followers of Christ were first called "Christians." St. Peter is traditionally considered its first bishop.

Two other patriarchies later joined these three.

Constantinople, often called the New Rome, was founded by the Emperor Constantine in 324. After the fall of Rome in the fifth century, it became the center of the Byzantine Empire and a major center of art, culture and religion. The bishop of the city was eventually granted the title of Patriarch by the Council of Chalcedon in 451. It was traditionally said to have been founded as a Christian center by St. Andrew.

Jerusalem also received patriarchal status in 451 AD. Traditionally evangelized by St. James (the Just), its first bishop and "the brother of the Lord," Jerusalem was not a large geographic center of early Christianity. This was because the city was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

In the following centuries, especially after the Persian invasion of the seventh century, it became increasingly difficult for pilgrims to travel to the Holy Land and the ancient sites of early Christianity. Therefore, special churches in Rome were assigned to the patriarchs and bishops of these places. Five of these churches became the patriarchal basilicas listed above, along with St. Lawrence Outside the Walls. Each has a papal altar that may only be used by the pope, or someone to whom he gives permission.

St. John Lateran is the church of the Patriarch of Rome, also traditionally known as the pope. The pope continued to be called the Patriarch of the West, until the title was officially dropped by the Vatican in 2006. St. John is the cathedral church of Rome.

St. Peter's is the church that was assigned to the Patriarch of Constantinople, "the Rome of the East."

St. Mary Major was assigned to the Patriarch of Antioch.

St. Paul Outside the Walls became the church of the Patriarch of Alexandria.

St. Lawrence Outside the Walls was the church of the Patriarch of Jerusalem until 1847. According to tradition, St. Lawrence, a deacon martyr, is buried there. Jerusalem was reestablished as a Latin rite patriarchate in July 1847. Its current leader is Patriarch Michel Sabbah. (Archbishop-coadjutor Fouad Twal is co-adjustor.)

After the Crusades, which ended in 1291, when the holy sites were permanently lost to the Muslims, the role of the Latin rite patriarchates there declined. (The various Eastern churches have their own patriarchs. For example, both the Coptic Church and the Greek Orthodox Churches have Patriarchs of Alexandria.) Those appointed as patriarchs of these cities after that time no longer led an active see as bishops do today, and their role became titular. By the 1950s, the ancient sees remained vacant after a patriarch died.

In 1964, Pope Paul VI abolished the patriarchates of Alexandria, Constantinople and Antioch.

In ancient Rome, basilicas served as "the hall of the kings." The original Greek word - basilikos - meant several things all dealing with royalty and government: such as treasury, palace, royal purse, royal garments and even the king's friends. Basilicas were central to Roman life. They contained governmental offices, courts and even marketplaces. They were where people gathered to share the high points of life, to resolve conflicts and to uphold justice.

Today, that remains the role of the church - whether in a great basilica or in a small parish church.