If you thought that the United States was not home to a Roman Catholic Church that could rival the stature of the famous basilicas in Europe, you have not seen the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (also known as the “Catholic Church of America”) The 72-meter-tall church, located in the heart of Washington DC and near the Catholic University of America campus, is the largest Catholic church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world.
Designed in a Byzantine Revival Romanesque design, the church houses more than 70 chapels and oratories that weave the history of Roman Catholicism, its people, and the United States. The Basilica is also home to the largest collection of contemporary ecclesiastical art (meaning church-related works) in the world, and was originally designed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a National Shrine of Prayer and Pilgrimage for Roman Catholics. Americans in the early 1920s. In August 2006, the basilica erected a mosaic dome to replace its old dome, the first of many modern changes to its original architectural plans.
Built over a span of 30 years, due in part to delays caused by the Great Depression, the dimensions of this basilica are enormous and can easily dethrone those of many other cathedrals in the world. According to the National Shrine website, the basilica is 25 percent longer than St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and its dome is more than twice the size of the central dome of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice. , Italy. The Sanctuary, not the United States Capitol, is the tallest building in Washington, DC, attracting approximately one million visitors a year.
Pope Benedict XVI, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and recently Pope Francis, on September 23, 2015, have prayed, blessed and adorned the doors of this basilica. Pope Francis, in particular, has also blessed the basilica’s priest, Junipeno Serra, as the first American saint. The church was also the site of the funeral mass for the United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Open 365 days a year, the holy church offers six Masses, five hours of confession, and weekly and seasonal devotions to people of all faiths internationally. Unlike other churches, which prefer not to mix spirituality with technology, this basilica also allows visitors who cannot come in person to request prayers, light candles, or request a spiritual registration online.
Sure to captivate history, jewelry, and religious lovers, the basilica also houses the ultimate Catholic treasure on its crypt level: the papal tiara of Pope Paul VI. But the most beautiful thing about the National Shrine is not its possession of the Papal Tiara or its ranking as one of the ten largest churches in the world, it is the fact that the Vatican recognized its stature by consecrating its name with a marker on the floor of the famous St. Peter’s basilica.
So take a road trip to Michigan Ave NE, take in the magnificence of this basilica and wander through it without tickets, or take one of its six daily group tours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
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