Today the church celebrates The Feast of the Dedication of the Cathedral Church Saint John the Lateran in Rome. It is so called because the land on which the church stands was donated by the Latarani Family in the year 324. It is really the Cathedral Church of Rome. Saint Peters is not; Saint Peter’s is known as a cemetery church. From the 4th Century until the Avignon Papacy in 1309, the Church of John the Lateran in Rome was the residence of the Holy Father.