Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

The Story

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., is the largest Catholic church in North America and the patronal church of the United States, dedicated to Mary under the title by which the American bishops entrusted the nation to her in 1846, eight years before Pope Pius IX defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The foundation stone was laid in 1920, and the crypt church welcomed worshipers within a few years. Construction paused during the Depression and the Second World War, then resumed through the offerings of Catholics across the country, and the Great Upper Church was dedicated in 1959. The mosaic of the Trinity Dome, completing the basilica's original design, was finished in 2017. Built in Byzantine-Romanesque style without structural steel in its masonry walls, the shrine contains more than eighty chapels and oratories honoring the Mother of God under titles cherished by the many peoples who built the American Church, from Our Lady of Guadalupe to Our Lady of Czestochowa. Pope St. John Paul II prayed here in 1979, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, and Pope Francis canonized St. Junipero Serra on its east portico in 2015. Pope St. John Paul II raised the shrine to the rank of minor basilica in 1990. Pilgrims come throughout the year, with celebrations peaking on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, the patronal feast of the United States.

Church Recognition

Designated a minor basilica by Pope St. John Paul II in 1990, the shrine is the patronal church of the United States, whose bishops chose Mary Immaculate as national patroness in 1846.

Catholic Teaching

The basilica proclaims the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, defined by Pope Pius IX in 1854: that Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception by the grace of Christ (CCC 490-493).

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Practical

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A major U.S. pilgrimage destination dedicated to Mary under her title of the Immaculate Conception.

Go Deeper

Visit the basilica's official website at https://www.nationalshrine.org, read Pope Pius IX's apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus defining the Immaculate Conception, and see the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 490-493).