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 Bernini's "Cathedra Petri" Scott 321 (1961) The Feast Day of the Chair Of Saint Peter ("cathedra petri") has little to do with furniture, but is a celebration of the authority of Saint Peter, and his successors who have served the Church. The term chair comes from the Latin term cathedra, meaning "the seat of government". The term "ex cathedra" (literally “from the chair”) refers to instances when the pope invokes his full authority to declare a doctrine on faith or morals to be infallible. Around 34 AD, Peter went to Antioch and established there a seat, or chair, of Church government. It is here that we first hear the disciples of Christ referred to as "Christians": "Then he [Peter} went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a large number of people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians."(Acts 11:25-26)The success of his work was acknowledged by the establishment of an annual Church celebration on February 22nd. He later went to Rome and headed the establishment of the Roman Church until he was crucified by Emperor Nero in 68 AD. Sometime around the fourth century, the celebration of Peter establishing the Roman Church began, celebrated on January 18th. The Roman celebration was linked to a date believed to be the day when Peter gave his first homily in Rome. Pope Paul IV (r. 1555-1559) formalized the feast of the Chair of Peter in Rome in 1558. For 400 years the Church celebrated two feast days regarding the Chair of Peter. In 1962, Pope John XXIII combined the two feasts into one as a celebration of the authority entrusted to Saint Peter and his successors. The Feast of the Chair of St. Peter is celebrated now on February 22 each year. Here is a view of Bernini's "Cathedra Petri" at Saint Peter's Basilica, which contains the relic believed to be the physical chair of Saint Peter:  The Cathedra Petri Saint Peter's Basilica Photo by Dnalor 01 From Wikimedia Commons Used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license References |
