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.