Chapel of the Ascension, Jerusalem after the death and resurrection of Jesus, early Christians began gathering in secret to commemorate his Ascension at a small cave on the Mount of Olives. The issuance of the Edict of Milan by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 313 made it possible for Christians to worship overtly without fear of government persecution. By the time of the pilgrim Egeria's travels to Jerusalem in 384, the spot of veneration had been moved to the present location, uphill from the cave, which had been integrated into the Constantinian Church of Eleona, dedicated by then just to Jesus' teachings about good
Entering Heaven alive and ancestor of Noah. The Roman Catholic Church distinguishes between "The Ascension", in which Christ rose to heaven by his own power, and "The Assumption" in which Mary, mother of Jesus, was raised to heaven by God's power. (Enoch and Elijah are said in scripture to have been "assumed" [experienced assumption] into heaven.) On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII, acting "ex cathedra", issued "Munificentissimus Deus", an authoritative statement of official doctrine of Roman Catholicism. In Section 44 the pope stated: The doctrine is based on Sacred Tradition that Mary, mother of Jesus, was bodily assumed into heaven. For centuries