LAT'ERAN, CHURCH OF SAINT JOHN. The first in dignity of the Roman churches, styled in Roman usage the mother and lie-ad of all the churches of the city and of the world.' It occu pies the site of the palace of Plautius Lateranus, confiscated by Nero, and later an Imperial resi dence. The palace was given by Constantine to Pope Alelchiades in 312. and the first basilica built here by Pope Sylvester I. in 324. of which a few fragments still remain. This was overthrown by an earthquake in 894: the second church. dedi• cated now to Saint John Baptist, was burned in 1308; and the third met a similar fate in 1360. The fourth restoration was made by Urban V. (1362-70), but the edifice has since been largely modernized with unhappy effect. The solemn en trance of the Pope into office is celebrated by his taking possession of this church : at Saint Peter's he is Pope. but here Bishop of Rome. Over the portico is the balcony from which, before 1870. the pontiffs gave their solemn benediction urbi of orbi. Five couneils regarded as eeumeni eal by the Boman Catholic Church have been held here ( see LATERAN COUNCILS) ; and it is here that tradition places the first meeting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic. The Lateran Palace was the habitual residence of the popes until the migration to Avignon; after their re turn they removed to the Vatican. The ancient
building was destroyed by Sixtus V.: the only remnants are the private chapel of the popes, and one end of their dining-hall, known as the Tricli nium, in the building behind which, attached to a Passionist convent, is the Scala Santa or `holy staircase,' supposed to have been that of Pilate's palace at Jerusalem, said to been brought to Rome by Saint Ilelena. Those who believe that the feet of Christ touched it ascend it only on their knees, and the twenty-eight stone steps are covered by a wooden easing. The ancient chapel above it, where no one hut the Pope is permitted to say mass, contains a portrait of Christ reputed to have been begun by Saint Luke and finished by an angel, whence it is known as the .1 cheiropoicton, or picture made without hands. The modern Palace of the Lateran, built by Sixtus V., and now under the control of the Italian Government, contains a valuable museum of Christian archaeology, due principally to Pius IX. Consult: Hare. Walks in Rome (15th ed., London, 1000) ; Lanciani, Pagan and Christian Rome (London and Boston, 1893).