Beauty and Christ
What Is a Basilica?
The word basilica means two different things. Originally it was a Roman public hall, a long rectangular building with side aisles used for law and business. Early Christians adopted that shape for their churches. Later the word also became an honour: the Pope grants the title basilica to certain important churches, such as St Peter’s in Rome.
Two meanings of one word
The architectural meaning. In ancient Rome a basilica was a large public hall, rectangular, with a central space and side aisles, used as a law court and marketplace. When Christianity became free to build openly in the fourth century, believers borrowed this practical, spacious plan for their churches. Much later church architecture grew from that root.
The honorific meaning. Today, in the Roman Catholic Church, basilica is also a title of honour given by the Pope to churches of special importance. There are four major basilicas, all in Rome: St Peter’s, St John Lateran, St Mary Major, and St Paul Outside the Walls. Hundreds of minor basilicas exist around the world.
Basilica or cathedral?
They answer different questions. A cathedral holds a bishop’s seat. A basilica is a building shape, or an honorary title. A church can be both, one, or neither. St John Lateran, for example, is the cathedral of Rome and also a basilica.
What it points to
It is a quiet and beautiful thing that the earliest Christians took an ordinary civic hall, a place of commerce and courts, and made it a house of prayer. The faith does not need grandeur to begin. It takes whatever space is offered and fills it with the presence of God, because the true temple is not finally a building at all.
Come and see
Beauty is a door, never a trick. The cathedrals, the hymns, and the long roads of pilgrimage were all made by people who had first found something, or Someone, worth the labour of a lifetime. If the beauty draws you, follow it to its source. The living Christ it points toward is not an argument to win but a Person to meet, and he still draws near to everyone who comes to him with an open heart. The Gospel of John is a gentle place to begin.
Meet JesusRead the Gospel of JohnThe Church around the worldJesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a basilica?
- A basilica is either an ancient rectangular hall with side aisles (a building shape early Christians used for churches) or a special title of honour the Pope grants to important churches, such as St Peter's in Rome.
- What is the difference between a basilica and a cathedral?
- A cathedral is the church that holds a bishop's seat. A basilica is a building shape or an honorary papal title. A church can be both at once, like St John Lateran in Rome, which is both the cathedral of Rome and a basilica.
- What are the four major basilicas?
- The four major basilicas are all in Rome: St Peter's, St John Lateran, St Mary Major, and St Paul Outside the Walls. Many other churches around the world hold the title of minor basilica.