For more info,

please contact me

Dr. Utr. Iur.

Frank

Van den Broeke

The concept "Basilica

A Basilica is not a Cathedral !

The two keys of the Pope: a golden one and an iron one.

Before I start with describing the St.Peters Basilica of Rome, I would like to explain you the concept of a “Basilica”. In the Roman Catholic churches, the most important feature is the tabernacle and the Holy Sacrament. Not so when you enter the St. Peter’s in Rome !! Through the baldachin/canapé you will find at the very end how, under the alabaster window, four Doctors of the Church are holding up a bronze throne.Two for the West: Ambrose and Augustine; and two for the East: Athanasius and Chrysostom.

It’s the chair of St. Peter. Isn’t it incredible that the most important feature seems to be a chair! and not the Holy Sacrament, that they located in a side-chapel behind a curtain.

It was produced by Bernini between 1647-1653, and covers in the inside a simple wooden chair . A legend tells us that it was the chair or  cathedra of the first of the Apostles: St. Peter. The truth is less prosaic. It is actually the throne of Charles the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne, who gave his throne as a gift to Pope John VIII in 875.

But why is the Cathedra of St. Peter so important, and is such a prime feature of the Basilica? And strange enough, the St. Peters Basilica is not the most important church in Christianity: that honor is going to the Basilica St. John in Rome: the Mater Ecclesiae - the Mother of all Churches. St. John in Lateran is Basilica but also Cathedral. That is the church where the pope is the spiritual leader of Christianity. There he is the head of the Holy See. For that reason Saint John in Lateran is the Mater Ecclesia, the Mother of all Churches. It's the golden key in the coat of arms of the popes. Today, the Pope is also the only monarch on earth (even over a very small country) who is at the same time spiritual director of a Religion. On paper, also the Dalai Lama and the Queen of England. The temporal power, being the head of the State of The City of the Vatican is the iron or bronze key in the coat of arms. Mussolini signed the famous Pacts of Lateran there on the 11 february 1929, recognizing the Vatican City as the smallest country in the world together with 22 extra-territorial buildings in the City, together with the summer residence Castel Gandolfo at the vulcanic lake Albano in the south of Rome. And for that the Church called Mussolini “A man send by God!” At least, that pact saved Rome in its inner walls form the bombardments of World War II. How you could hit the city without bombing also the neutral Holy See?!

     John Paul II was invited as the head of the State when he spoke at the United Nations in New York. Similar, also Benedictus XVI spoke at the parliament in the UK, as the head of a state, not as a spiritual director. For sure, that evening, they would invite him at the banquet, toghether with Queen Elisabeth II. I can imagine myself the kind of conversation he had. Just talks between Kings & Queens.

     Benedict: "Hi Betty, how is your health? Since I am over 80, I am suffering a bit of reumathism. How you are cooping with it?"

     Betty: "Probably it's part of my DNA, you remember? Also my mum was in a good shape ! Of course, the daily walks with my dogs keeps me also fit. How is your cat?"

     Benedict: "Fine, and the children ? no problems? I have none, but I heard a new grand-grand child of yours is on it's way ..."

     Betty: "Yes indeed, but we still keep it secret in the family ... you know, the press can be so intrusive ..."

     Benedict: "You should come to visit me; do you know, my summer-residence is bigger than my country. Are you still owning Scotland? ..."

Unfortunately, here this small talk was interrupted by a toast that was offered in his honnor.

    But the Holly Father is the last spiritual leader in the world who has also a kingdom: Città del Vaticano - Vatican City. The main church of that state (only 1/8 of Central Park in New York) is the Basilica St. Peter, who is not cathedral!

Then it becomes important that we understand the concept “Basilica”. The word has a greek origin and means a kings house or court. Like the remains of the pagan Basilicas on the Roman Forum: the basilica of the Gens Julia, the Basilica of Maxentius, the Basilica Emiliana and others. They represented the law court or the meeting hall for public assemblies. Often, the emperor or the ruler would hold a general audience in his basilica, and being seated on his throne, would hear your problems and offer you a recommendation how and where to find a solution. A gift to the crown was the price. The Pope, who as worldly leader over the smallest kingdom on earth, and being indirect the successor of the emperors is holding every week a general audience in the Vatican, listening to the people who come to him, being seated on his throne.

But what has this to do with the building that the Catholic Church today calls a “Basilica”? In every basilica of the world you will find a baldacchino, a canape or an umbrella. Underneath are the relics of saints. In the Saint Peter we have exactly under the baldacchino of Bernini the tomb of Saint Peter as was discovered in the 1950’s. Let say that I am a christian and have a problem. I can go to the tomb of saint Peter and ask for his intercession by the King of Heaven who has probably no time to listen to my humble request. But saint Peter can intercede for me by the King of heaven, knowing him quite well. And that is exactly the role of the saints in the Catholic Church. We have veneration (not adoration) for them and ask for their help and intercession for our material or spiritual problems. Of course, a priest will ask a small donation (burning a candle, a coin given ....). It is a way of communicating with the Lord who is sitting on his throne in Heaven. The tomb of st. Peter explains also why the baldacchino is not centered under the dome. It is build above the tomb of the first successor of Christ: Peter. And it also explains why it is not build, as most of the churches, towards the east (in the direction of the resurrection of the sun). It is build to the west, over the tomb of St. Peter, who is looking from his tomb to the east.

The concept “basilica” and how it works is also the main reason why Hillary Clinton never became president in 2008. Years earlier, her husband Bill won the elections through “Basilica”

: we call it “town hall meetings”; where people could meet their ruler and express to them their problems. When she started her campaign, she was already so famous that she thought that winning in five states on Super-Tuesday would have been enough for the victory. In the mean time Obama, for us Europeans, a totally unknown senator started organizing “Basilica” -”Town Hall Meetings” over internet. He asked everybody to write their problems to him. In his call-center would be seated his “hundreds of saints”, who were listening to your problems with the promise that they would present YOUR problem to Mr. Obama. Of course, at the end of the phone call, they would ask for a small donation. Basilica is what you are calling grass-rooted movements. Through “basilica” he out routed Hillary in funding and popularity. When she discovered it, it was to late. And never it happened that a man who won the convention and the elections, lost all the states in the two months coming up to the nomination. What happened there? In the last months we saw the good old fashion beer & whisky  drinking Hillary back. A woman who took direct contact with her audience. It would have been enough for her to visit from the beginning village to village and making that everywhere would hang a picture of her with the people. She would have won on one leg!

.... and in 2012, the same happened in the Republican Party: Rick Santorum. He had hardly funding or organization, but won however 11 states in the primaries against his most feared rival Mitt Romney. How he did it? Again: “Basilica”. In the years upcoming to the nomination, he visited state after state and village after village. And everywhere were he went personally, people voted for him. At the end, he couldn’t stand up against the money and organization of Mitt Romney.

And the popes of today are knowing it. Benedict XVI condemned the paedophilia in the Church very strongly in words, but also, in every visits worldwide, he took his time to talk personally to the victims of it. As pope, he would go on ordinary Sundays to one of the parishes in Rome for celebrating the Holy Mess with the locals ... for being in time at St. Peters Square for the Angelus, addressing the pilgrims and the crowd. A bishop has to be the father of his priest and listening to them, otherwise the priest can’t be the father for his congregation. That direct contact is “living Basilica”!!

follow the link for the description of the building.