Today in 1626, the magnificent new basilica of St Peter’s in Rome (above) was consecrated, on the exact 1300th anniversary of the consecration of the old basilica way back in 326. Work had continued on it since the foundation stone was laid by Pope Julius II in 1506. During the construction, Michaelangelo took over as capomaestro (‘big boss’), and designed most of the building as it stands today, including the stupendous dome. St Peter’s has the biggest church interior and tallest dome in the world, giving it undisputed bragging rights in a religion founded on humility.
The People’s Temple of the Disciples of Christ partook of a congregational suicide in Jonestown, Guyana, on this day in 1978. The new religious movement and its leader Jim Jones had just been visited and investigated by the American Congressman Leo Ryan, and this morning, as he was leaving with a party of journalists and church members, he and several others were shot and killed on the airstrip by Temple security guards. The same evening, Jones persuaded all 918 members of the church, including himself and 276 children, to drink fruit-flavoured cyanide.
Pope Boniface VIII issued the notorious bull Unam sanctam (‘One holy’, as in ‘One holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church’) today in 1302. It declared that the Pope had absolute authority over all secular governments, and that salvation could only be found not only in belonging the Church, but also in submission to the Pope. The King of France (Philip IV) responded by dispatching 2,000 soldiers who plundered the Pope’s palaces and held him prisoner for three days. Boniface was released, but died within a month.
‘Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman Pontiff.’ The concluding words of Unam sanctam, 1302
Thomas Burgess, the saintly Bishop of the Welsh city of St David’s in the early 19th century, as well as being a prolific author, was born today in 1756. Rather than seeing St David’s as a cash cow, as Bishops had done for generations, Bishop Burgess breathed new life into the delapidated diocese, encouraging his clergy to preach in Welsh, founding a theological college, and distributing low-price or free Bibles in the Welsh language.
The Declaration on Procured Abortion was issued today in 1974 by the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Paul VI. Published in the year after the landmark Roe v. Wade decision of the US Supreme Court, which made abortion legal in America, the Vatican statement ruled out abortion for Catholics.
Image: The Met