Basilicas in Ontario and Western Canada

I blogged about the following basilicas on January 18, 2019.

• Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
• Cathedral Basilica of St. Boniface, Winnipeg, Manitoba
• St. Joseph’s Cathedral Basilica, Edmonton, Alberta
• St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica, Toronto, Ontario

St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica, London, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1961.

St. Peter’s began as a log chapel in 1834.  The current French Gothic church was built between 1880 and 1885.  The twin towers, Lady Chapel, and sacristy were added in 1958.  It is the Cathedral for the Diocese of London.

Pictures are from TripAdvisor, Flickr, and Pinterest.

St. Patrick’s Basilica, Ottawa, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1995.

St. Patrick’s parish opened in 1855 to serve English-speaking Catholics, mostly Irish.  The current Gothic Revival building was built in the early 1870s.  The stenciled ceiling, most of the murals, and some of the stained glass windows were crafted by Guido Nincheri in the 1920s and 1930s.  The Cathedral has five choirs.

Pictures are from Wikipedia and Flickr.

St. Paul’s Basilica, Toronto, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

St. Paul’s parish was established in 1822 and is the oldest parish in Toronto.  The original church building served as the first Cathedral for Toronto from 1842 to 1848.  The current Italian Renaissance church was completed in 1889 based on the design of the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.  The Italianate bell tower was built in 1905.

The top two pictures are from Wikipedia, then Pinterest.

Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King, Hamilton, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.

The Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King was built between 1930 and 1933 and serves as the Cathedral for the Diocese of Hamilton.  It is made from limestone and employs a 13th Century English Gothic design.  The 165-foot bell tower contains a stone from the Roman catacombs.  The church has 82 stained glass windows from the Meyer Company of Munich, Germany, and a 5,000 pipe organ from Steinmeyer in Bavaria.  The Stations of the Cross were carved in Italy using Cararra marble.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the last two are from Flickr.

Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, Guelph, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2014.

The Gothic Revival church was built between 1876 and 1888 and is constructed with local limestone.  The two towers rise to 200 feet above street level.  Many of the Basilica’s decorative carvings were done by local artist, Matthew Bell, who fell to his death while working in the Basilica.

The top two pictures are from Flickr and the next two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of Christ the King, Moosonee, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2020.

The church served as the cathedral for the Diocese of Moosonee from the church’s completion in 1938 until 2016, when the Diocese was suppressed.

The picture is from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Finnan, Alexandria, Ontario

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2021.

St. Finnan’s began as a mission in 1832.  The current building was built between 1883 and 1885 and served as the Cathedral for the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall from 1890 until the Diocese’s suppression in 2020.

The first picture is from Flickr and the second is from the local newspaper.

Basilicas in Quebec and Eastern Canada

I blogged about the following basilicas on January 4, 2019.

• Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec
• Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady Queen of the World and St. James, Montreal, Quebec
• St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• St. John’s Cathedral Basilica, St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador
• Cathedral Basilica of St. Michael, Sherbrooke, Quebec

I blogged about the following basilica on January 18, 2019.

• Basilica of Our Lady of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec

Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Leo XIII in 1887.

The Basilica is a major North American pilgrimage site and is dedicated to St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus.  A church was built in this location in 1658 and many who visited the church were cured of illnesses.  A grand new church opened in 1876 but was destroyed by a fire in 1922.  The current basilica was built between 1926 and 1946.  The building is 344 feet long and 157 feet wide and has twin 300-foot steeples.  The basilica has numerous paintings, mosaics and sculptures.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the third is from Flickr.

Cathedral Basilica of St. Dunstan, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1929.

The current church is the fourth cathedral for the Diocese of Charlottetown.  The first two were wooden structures and the third, a stone building, burned to the ground in 1913.  The current church was built of stone between 1916 and 1919 with a French Gothic exterior and an English Gothic interior patterned on St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.  There are 23 statues of angels and saints and almost 300 stained-glass images of angels.

The top picture is from Wikipedia and the bottom is from Flickr.

Oratory Basilica of St. Joseph of Mount Royal, Montreal

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1954.

St. Joseph’s Oratory sits atop Mount Royal and is the largest church in Canada.  It has a Renaissance Revival façade and an Art Deco interior.  The church was founded in 1904 by St. Andre Bessette (1845 to 1937), a monk and member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.  Brother Andre, as he was known, was renowned as one who could, through the grace of God, bring healing to the sick and disabled.  The current granite church was built between 1914 and 1941.  More than two million visitors and pilgrims visit each year, many climbing 99 steps to the Oratory on their knees.  The Votive chapel has nearly 1,000 canes and crutches left behind by pilgrims cured during the lifetime of Brother Andre. 

The first three pictures are from Wikipedia and the last is from Flickr.

Basilica of Notre-Dame-du-Cap, Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1964.

The Basilica is Canada’s national shrine to Our Blessed Mother.  There has been a church at this location since 1659, but the current church was completed in 1964.  The basilica can seat almost 1,700 and has a Casavant pipe organ with 5,425 pipes.  The stained glass windows were designed by a Dutch priest.  The basilica is operated by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

St. Patrick’s Basilica, Montreal, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1988.

The Basilica was built between 1843 and 1847 to serve Montreal’s growing Irish community.  The Gothic Revival building has a 226-foot steeple.  The interior has four rosette stained-glass windows and 150 oil paintings of saints.  The basilica has a lamp in the sanctuary that weighs 1800 pounds and has 6-foot carvings of six angels.

The first two pictures are from Wikipedia and the last is from Pinterest.

Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel, Miramichi, New Brunswick

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1989.

The Neo-Gothic sandstone basilica was built between 1903 and 1921 and was designed by famed American church architect, Patrick Charles Keely.  It was built by an Irish-American congregation and seats 1,200.  The church once served as the Cathedral of the Diocese of Chatham, which was suppressed in 1938.

The top picture is from Wikipedia and the other two are from Pinterest.

Basilica Cathedral of St. Cecilia, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1991.

The Cathedral Basilica was built between 1934 and 1935 to replace a previous cathedral that had burned down.  The design of the neo-Gothic church was inspired by the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.  This church was heavily damaged by a 2002 fire but has been restored.

Pictures are from Wikipedia, Pinterest, and from a tourist website.

Basilica of St. Anne of Varennes, Varennes, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

The neo-Romanesque basilica was built between 1884 and 1887 and has two bell towers.  It contains the tomb of St. Marguerite D’Youville.

Pictures are from Wikipedia and TripAdvisor.

Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007.

The Basilica was completed in 1962 and once served as the cathedral for the former Diocese of Labrador City-Schefferville.  The modern building has a rock façade and a steeple with three bells.

Pictures are from a local website and Waymarkering.

Basilica of St. Frederick, Drummondville, Quebec

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2015.

The first Catholic church in Drummondville was built in 1822 and was replaced in 1880.  This second church burned in 1899 as did the third in 1921.  The current church was built between 1922 and 1925.  This Neo-Gothic building used the still standing Neo-Romanesque outer walls of the third church.  The Basilica has a 134-foot bell tower as well as a smaller tower.  The French glass master Guillaume-Ernest Pellus created the large choir windows and the windows at the back of the facade. 

Pictures are from a local website and Pinterest.

 

 Basilica Introduction

The term “basilica” initially referred to large public buildings in the Roman Empire.  These buildings were typically rectangular with a central nave and two or more longitudinal aisles with an apse on one end containing the raised tribunal used by Roman magistrates.  When Christianity was legalized in Rome, this building style was well suited for churches.

In the Catholic Church today, the term as come to mean a special type of church, regardless of architectural style.  A basilica is an honorary title bestowed on a church by the Pope because of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical importance, or significance as a center of worship.  Some cathedrals are also basilicas.  Each basilica has a ceremonial umbrella in the papal colors of white and yellow and a ceremonial bell.  Both of these are symbolic of the Pope’s special relationship to the basilica.

Popes did not officially designate churches as basilicas until the 18th Century.  So many churches, especially in Europe, have been considered basilicas for centuries.  Today, the Church recognizes at least 1,850 churches as basilicas.  Four are major basilicas and are all in Rome.  The rest are minor basilicas.  Perhaps because of the history of the term basilica, or perhaps because the Church has had many Italian popes, the distribution of basilicas is highly skewed towards Europe and specifically Italy.  More than 31 percent of basilicas are in Italy, Western Europe as a whole accounts for 60 percent, and Europe as a whole has 73 percent of all basilicas.  The entire Western Hemisphere has 22 percent, leaving only 5 percent to Asia, Africa, and Oceania combined.

I have already blogged about U.S. basilicas in my U.S. blogs.  Also, I have covered world basilicas that were also metropolitan cathedrals in my international blogs.  But that still leaves over 1,600 basilicas.  I will try to cover as many as I can.

As I mentioned above, there are four major basilicas and all four are in Rome.  I will not discuss any of these further as there is ample information about them in guidebooks and on the internet.

• St. John Lateran is the cathedral church for Pope as the Bishop of Rome. I discussed this in my October 8, 2020 blog.
• St. Peter’s is the largest church in the world and is located in Vatican City.
• St. Mary Major is the primary church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
• St. Paul Outside-the-Walls is the site of the martyrdom of St. Paul.