What is the most sacred city in Catholicism?

  • Thread starter Thread starter TheTrinitySaves
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
ChurchSoldier said:
None. While the places you mention are interesting for historical knowledge and sometimes beauty, if all holy sites were destroyed Christianity would continue on as it has for the last 2000 years.

This doesn’t mean we don’t have sacred spaces, sometimes which are consecrated for use such as a church building or altar. But practice of the Christian Faith is not dependent on them. Many thousands of masses have been said on the hoods of Jeeps, Humvees and plastic tables for troops during war time. Jesus was just as present there as in the Vatican.

PAX
Click to expand...
I partially agree,

However the site of Jesus’s crucifixion and The City Is David, and far more events that we consider vital to our faith is far more important than a “interesting historical site”.

Obviously if Jerusalem or Rome is destroyed, Christ will live on through the church, but you cannot deny their is something spirtiually special about Jerusalem or Rome.
 
SAVINGRACE said:
Our Lord lived and died in Israel. The Vatican isn’t holy, it’s only the place the Pope resides and he can and has resided elsewhere. Technically “Rome” can be anywhere on earth whereas there is only one Jerusalem. Christ makes it holy just as he makes the Eucharist (wafers) holy.

Having been to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gethsemane etc I can’t tell you the overwhelming feeling of emotional and spiritual peace it brings you. Yes, even when the country itself is being threatened. There is a peace at the Holy sites which I haven’t experienced anywhere else including Vatican, Lourdes etc

If you make one pilgrimage in your life, make it Jerusalem.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I think this best answers my question.

Maybe a better way to phrase my question.
 
Rome is arguably the most specifically Catholic. While Jerusalem is a crucially important city, it is a city with a common heritage shared by all Christians as well as Jewish people.
 
pianistclare said:
That wasn’t his question.

There can be places that we revere as sacred, but no city on its own is sacred.
It’s the Presence of God or the action of God that makes is sacred.
Not a place.

No one has forgotten Golgotha.
Click to expand...
👍 I agree.
 
SAVINGRACE said:
… The Vatican isn’t holy, it’s only the place the Pope resides and he can and has resided elsewhere. Technically “Rome” can be anywhere on earth whereas there is only one Jerusalem. .
Click to expand...
The Vatican isn’t holy? Considering this, I would have to disagree. I do think it should be considered a holy site.

“Rome” cannot be anywhere on earth, the Pope could reside anywhere on earth, but he would still have to be the Bishop of Rome. We had a period of 68 years when the Popes resided in Avignon papacy. Avignon was the only the place where the Pope resided. Rome was still his See. He was never the bishop of Avignon. As the bishop of Rome, the popes of Avignon were still the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ.

So lets not say that Rome is not somehow special, it is. It cannot be anywhere on earth. Even if it was obliterated with a nuclear attack and uninhabitable, the true Pope would still have to be the Bishop of Rome, regardless of where he resided.

In addition to that, the great persecution by Nero of Christians started in Rome. It was here that St Peter and St Paul, along with countless other early Christians were martyred.
 
pianistclare said:
That wasn’t his question.

There can be places that we revere as sacred, but no city on its own is sacred.
It’s the Presence of God or the action of God that makes is sacred.
Not a place.

No one has forgotten Golgotha.
Click to expand...
I don’t think I agree. One can read so many references to Jerusalem that it seems that God intended it to be a sacred city.
 
tafan said:
The Vatican isn’t holy? Considering this, I would have to disagree. I do think it should be considered a holy site.

“Rome” cannot be anywhere on earth, the Pope could reside anywhere on earth, but he would still have to be the Bishop of Rome. We had a period of 68 years when the Popes resided in Avignon papacy. Avignon was the only the place where the Pope resided. Rome was still his See. He was never the bishop of Avignon. As the bishop of Rome, the popes of Avignon were still the successor of Peter, the Vicar of Christ.

So lets not say that Rome is not somehow special, it is. It cannot be anywhere on earth. Even if it was obliterated with a nuclear attack and uninhabitable, the true Pope would still have to be the Bishop of Rome, regardless of where he resided.

In addition to that, the great persecution by Nero of Christians started in Rome. It was here that St Peter and St Paul, along with countless other early Christians were martyred.
Click to expand...
“Rome” in brackets can be anywhere on earth, wherever the Pope is. The Vatican is not a holy site. Christ never physically lived there. He makes Jerusalem holy because he lived and died there just as his presence makes plain bread holy by transforming it into the blood and body of Christ.
 
SAVINGRACE said:
Our Lord lived and died in Israel. The Vatican isn’t holy, it’s only the place the Pope resides and he can and has resided elsewhere. Technically “Rome” can be anywhere on earth whereas there is only one Jerusalem. Christ makes it holy just as he makes the Eucharist (wafers) holy.

Having been to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gethsemane etc I can’t tell you the overwhelming feeling of emotional and spiritual peace it brings you. Yes, even when the country itself is being threatened. There is a peace at the Holy sites which I haven’t experienced anywhere else including Vatican, Lourdes etc

If you make one pilgrimage in your life, make it Jerusalem.
Click to expand...
Technically Palestine though, Bethlehem, Nazareth, etc
 
Different historic cities for different Apostolic Churches. Constantinople for Greeks, Damascus and Antioch for Syriacs, Ecthmiadzin for Armenians, etc
 
SAVINGRACE said:
“Rome” in brackets can be anywhere on earth, wherever the Pope is. .
Click to expand...
Again, this statement is wrong. The Avignon papacy proves it. Rome, in brackets or not, is where Rome is. The pope is the pope because he is the bishop of that specific city, regardless where he is.
 
Jerusalem. Look the Vatican is the seat of the Church however as Christians, Jerusalem is the site where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Funny, Judaism and Islam also revere it as theres but it really is the heart of Christianity. If it weren’t for the events in Jerusalem, there would be no Catholic Church, or Christianity.
 
tafan said:
Again, this statement is wrong. The Avignon papacy proves it. Rome, in brackets or not, is where Rome is. The pope is the pope because he is the bishop of that specific city, regardless where he is.
Click to expand...
You obviously don’t understand what Rome in brackets means. Regardless, the Vatican is not a holy place because Christ did not live live there ever. Yes the Vatican is an important place but it doesn’t compare with Jerusalem.
 
jas84173 said:
Jerusalem. Look the Vatican is the seat of the Church however as Christians, Jerusalem is the site where Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Funny, Judaism and Islam also revere it as theres but it really is the heart of Christianity.** If it weren’t for the events in Jerusalem, there would be no Catholic Church, or Christianity**.
Click to expand...
Exactly. There would also be no Vatican/Rome without Jerusalem or Bethlehem.
 
SAVINGRACE said:
You obviously don’t understand what Rome in brackets means. Regardless, the Vatican is not a holy place because Christ did not live live there ever. Yes the Vatican is an important place but it doesn’t compare with Jerusalem.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late reply.

I did not compare Rome with Jerusalem, I did not even vote on this poll. As a matter of fact, you can look at my post #30, and you can see that I defended the fact that Jerusalem was a sacred city.

As to Rome, I admittedly have no idea what you mean by Rome in brackets. You have made two factually incorrect statements with regards to Rome:
it’s only the place the Pope resides and he can and has resided elsewhere. Technically “Rome” can be anywhere on earth whereas there is only one Jerusalem.
Click to expand...
“Rome” in brackets can be anywhere on earth, wherever the Pope is
Click to expand...
Rome is not only the place the Pope resides. It is the See of the Pope. No where else on earth can be Rome, that See cannot be moved. It doesn’t matter where the Pope resides, what matters is that he is the Bishop of Rome (no brackets). Period, no brackets. The Bishop of Rome always going to be Christ’s Vicar on Earth. Think about that title for a moment and then tell me there is not something special about Rome.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top