Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption

The Story

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, known as America's First Cathedral, was the first great metropolitan cathedral built in the United States after the adoption of the Constitution. It was begun in 1806 under Bishop John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop of the United States, and dedicated in 1821. Designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, architect of the U.S. Capitol, the church is a masterpiece of neoclassical architecture, its luminous dome and clear glass conceived as an expression of the young republic's religious freedom. Here the early American Church took shape: the provincial and plenary Councils of Baltimore met within its walls, including the Third Plenary Council of 1884 that commissioned the Baltimore Catechism, and generations of bishops and priests were ordained and consecrated here. Pope Pius XI raised the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica in 1937, and it was later designated a national shrine. A National Historic Landmark, it was fully restored to Latrobe's original vision in 2006, and Pope St. John Paul II prayed here during his 1995 visit to Baltimore. Today the basilica serves as co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, the nation's first diocese, and welcomes pilgrims and visitors as a living monument to religious liberty and to Mary, honored under the title of her Assumption on August 15.

Church Recognition

Elevated to a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1937 and honored as a national shrine, the church is the first cathedral of the United States and remains co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Catholic Teaching

Dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the basilica proclaims the dogma that Mary was taken body and soul into heavenly glory (CCC 966), while its history testifies to the Church's teaching on religious freedom as a right rooted in human dignity (CCC 2106-2108).

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Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

A national historic landmark in Baltimore.

Go Deeper

Visit the basilica's official website at https://www.baltimorebasilica.org, read about the Councils of Baltimore and the Baltimore Catechism in histories of American Catholicism, and see the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Assumption (CCC 966).