Basilica Of Notre-Dame D'Alençon
The Basilica of Notre-Dame d'Alençon (french: Basilique Notre-Dame d'Alençon) is a Gothic architecture, Gothic parish church (building), church located in Alençon, Orne, France. It was elevated to the rank of minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. History A Romanesque church dedicated to the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin already existed on the current site of the basilica in the 12th century. This earlier structure may have featured a wooden-roofed nave. It was a priory, priory church founded by and dependent upon the Abbey of Lonlay (for which the Communes of France, commune in which it is located, Lonlay-l'Abbaye, is named). Later it became parish church, and was enlarged for the purpose. Construction on the nave of the current structure began as early as before the Hundred Years' War (1337–1453). Aisles were added onto the nave in about 1470, and substantial work on the fabric of the church continued until the early 16th century. In about the year 1500, during the ...
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Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies located around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The bishopric of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, a small enclave of the Italian city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the on ...
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