The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is a prominent minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the patroness of the United States. It is the largest church in the Western Hemisphere and seventh-largest religious structure in the world . Millions of pilgrims from around the country and the world visit the basilica each year. The basilica is located on Michigan Avenue in the northeast quadrant of Washington on land donated by The Catholic University of America. The church began to built in 1920 and opened in 1959. It is designated as a National Historic Landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Basilica is the patronal Catholic church of the United States, as it honors Mary, Mother of God, under the title Immaculate Conception. But it is neither the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Washington nor the mother church of the nation. The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle serves as mother church of the Archdiocese, and since there is no American primate there is no mother church of the nation (and if there were, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary would be a contender for designation as the mother chuch because of the historical and ceremonial precedence of Baltimore and its Archbishops). The Basilica is sometimes confused with the Washington National Cathedral, another National Historic Landmark that is an Episcopal church chartered by Congress as the National House of Prayer.

The Basilica does not have its own parish community, but it serves the adjacent University, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (located down the street), and hosts numerous Masses for organizations in the American Church. It houses tens of chapels and numerous domes, decorated in mosaics, said to be uniquely American but featuring very traditional Catholic images. The diameter of the main (Trinity) dome of the Basilica is within feet of that of the United States Capitol.

In 1792, John Carroll, the bishop of Baltimore and America's first Roman Catholic bishop, consecrated the newly-created United States under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception. In 1847, Pope Pius IX formalized Carroll's acclamation, proclaiming the Immaculate Conception as the patroness of the United States. In subsequent years, a few priests imagined an elaborate shrine in honor of their country's patroness.

Bishop Thomas J. Shahan, the fourth rector of the Catholic University of America proposed the construction of a national shrine to commemorate the Immaculate Conception in the country's capital. Bishop Shahan took his appeal to Pope Pius X on August 15, 1913. Shahan received the pope's enthusiastic support and his personal contribution of $400. Shahan returned to the United States and persuaded the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America to donate land at the southwest corner of the campus for his shrine.

In January 1914, Shahan published the first issue of Salve Regina, a newsletter meant to stir enthusiasm for his project. He wrote that the shrine would be a "monument of love and gratitude, a great hymn in stone as perfect as the art of man can make it and as holy as the intentions of its builders could wish it to be." His newsletter was circulated to dioceses throughout the country and financial donations began to pour into Washington. In 1915, Father Bernard McKenna of Philadelphia was appointed by Shahan as first director of the national shrine, bringing the bishop's dream one step closer to reality. Shahan oversaw the construction of the shrine until his death on March 9, 1932. His body is the only one interred at the national shrine.

By 1919, architectural drawings were chosen by Shahan and McKenna for the construction of the national shrine by a Boston firm. At first a traditional Gothic architectural style was considered. Bishop Shahan wanted his shrine to be bold and glorious and opted instead for a Byzantine-Romanesque design. Cardinal James Gibbons, archbishop of Baltimore, blessed the foundation stone on September 23, 1920. More than 10,000 people attended the mass, including foreign ambassadors, United States government officials, military officers, and other dignitaries. In 1929, the Great Depression halted the construction above the crypt level. The beginning of American involvement in World War II stalled plans even further.

After the war, in 1953, American bishops under the leadership of John Noll, archbishop ad personam of Fort Wayne and Patrick O'Boyle, archbishop of Washington, pledged to raise the funds necessary to complete the upper church of the national shrine. On November 20, 1959, thousands of Catholics gathered with their bishops for the dedication of the Great Upper Church.

The crypt has displayed the Papal Tiara of Pope Paul VI since 1968. In 1990, Pope John Paul II named the national shrine as the U.S.'s 36th minor basilica. In August 2006, work was completed on a mosaic covering the Redemption Dome in the Upper Church. This is the first new work to be done in many years and was part of the original architectural plans. Future plans include finishing the intended mosiacs for the Incarnation Dome and the largest of the domes, the Trinity Dome. Presently, a small chapel is also being constructed near the Crypt Church to honor Our Lady of Vietnam.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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