Pope Francis will face many challenges in 2023 – but it’s a year that also happens to be filled with significant anniversaries, including the tenth anniversary of his own pontificate, the 250th anniversary of the suppression of the Jesuits, and the 900th anniversary of the First Lateran Council. These anniversaries are filled with resonances for the year ahead.
Take the First Lateran Council, which took place between 18 and 27 March 1123. The assembly was the climax of a remarkable 70-year period during which the papacy asserted – and for the first time wielded to the full – all its powers over the Church. This new assertive style has been called the papal monarchy. At Lateran I, finally a pope (Callixtus II) attended and presided in person at an ecumenical council, and the power of lay rulers to appoint bishops was decisively rejected.
