The Church's Reconstruction

by Fr. Roger J. Landry - April 28, 2006

Ten days ago, the largest and most famous Church in the world celebrated the 500th anniversary of the inauguration of its reconstruction.

The original St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, erected in the 300s over the tomb of the Galilean fisherman by Constantine, was by the late 1400s, like the Church as a whole, collapsing because of decay.

The low point was the pontificate of Alexander VI (1492-1503), the most degenerate pope of all time. Upon his election, won in large part through bribery, he already had eight illegitimate children by several different women, and he would add to both numbers as pontiff. That such a man was capable of being elected the successor to St. Peter testifies to the deplorable state to which the Church had fallen. His pontificate would only lower the bar further, leading to calls for a thorough reform of the Church in head and in members.

When Pope Julius II was elected in 1503, he dismissed talk about repairing the Constantinian basilica. Instead he decided to tear it down and begin again. On April 18, 1506, he laid the cornerstone for the new basilica and commenced the 120 year rebuilding effort that spanned some twenty popes, incorporated many of the greatest artists and architects in history, and became the Church's visible response not just to the theological errors of the Protestant Reformation in 1517, but to the moral scandals and decay within the Church that spawned it. As a result, the present basilica is not merely an architectural and artistic marvel, but a great catechesis in stone, which proclaims the splendor of the faith and the path of the rebirth of the Church after the moral ruin of notorious clerical scandals.

There are so many lessons the present basilica, built to symbolize the Church as a whole, preaches to us today. The first is the foundation of the Church. The main altar is built right on top of the tomb and bones of St. Peter, epitomizing that the universal Church is built according to Christ's architectural plans: right on top of Peter (cf. Mt 16:18). Next is the role of the saints. Within the pillars of the interior basilica, capping the pilasters of the façade, and above the columns in the square, are the statues of the thousands of saints, male and female. They typify that the Church is built not out of marble, wood, brick and glass, but of men, women, boys and girls who become "living stones" "built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God" (1 Pet 2:5; Eph 2:19-22). The interior of the basilica features saints of the counter-reformation, those whom Christ raised up to bring the Church back to its true nature after the age of the scandals.

Perhaps the most interesting detail, however, is placed right above the main entrance to the Church. There is a huge sculpture of Christ's handing the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter (Mt 16:19), located there to remind those entering, including critics, of the divine foundation of the papacy. But this image was placed in counterpoint to a mosaic located on the inner side of this same entrance, which those exiting the basilica are supposed to see and remember: Christ's saving Peter from drowning after the fisherman had taken his eyes off of Christ while walking to him on the water (Mt 14:28-33). Even though the foundation of the papacy is divine, the basilica stresses, the popes are very human, and when they take their eyes off of Christ, they can and will sink to great depths. Many popes, like Alexander VI, have done just that. This mosaic was a visual indication to pilgrims of their need to pray for the popes, so that they might keep their eyes on Christ and help all of Christ's people to do the same.

Even though St. Peter's Basilica is 4,134 miles from Fall River, its message is one of hope and light to all those scandalized by more recent clerical infamies and ecclesial decay. It points analogically to the divine foundation of the priesthood and episcopacy, but also to the falls that can occur when clergy take account of the winds and take their eyes off of the Master; thus it indicates the ever urgent need to pray for the clergy. It shows the path to a stronger church through holier men and women, clergy, religious and lay, whom the Lord is calling to become the pillars of an even more beautiful spiritual edifice. And it is a living witness that rebuilding after scandals can take a very long time, perhaps even several generations.

The history of the rebuilding of St. Peter's is, therefore, a lesson of hope, and the present basilica an unmistakably resplendent symbol that patient rebuilding is worth the time and the effort.

Father Roger J. Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, MA and Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River.