Live Mass from 17 Catholic Basilicas

What is a basilica?

A basilica is a title of honour granted by the pope to a church of particular antiquity, dignity or historical importance. It is not a pilgrimage or diocesan role — it is a distinction the Holy See confers. Each basilica may display two marks of the privilege: the umbraculum (a silk canopy in the papal colours) and the tintinnabulum (a ceremonial bell).

There are four major (or papal) basilicas, in Rome and Vatican City — St John Lateran, St Peter’s, St Paul Outside the Walls and St Mary Major — and more than 1,900 minor basilicas across the world.

A basilica becomes a pilgrimage destination only when it also holds a saint’s tomb, a major relic or an approved apparition — as at St Peter’s, which also appears on our pilgrimage hub for that reason.