The Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation of Tariba es, Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Consolación) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Marian shrine and basilica located in the state of

Táchira Táchira State ( es, Estado Táchira, ) is one of the 24 states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,908. At the end of the 19t ...

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. The shrine was started by the

Order of Saint Augustine The Order of Saint Augustine, ( la, Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini) abbreviated OSA, is a religious mendicant order of the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1244 by bringing together several eremitical groups in the Tuscany region who were fo ...

who needed a church of sufficient hierarchy and dimensions sufficient for a growing parish as well as pilgrims. The

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, Father Francisco Martínez de Espinoza,

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

of the Villa of San Cristóbal, began the construction of the first temple dedicated to the Virgin of Táriba on 19 August 1690, which would later also be replaced due to repeated earthquakes and expansion.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

raised the shrine to the status of

Minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

via the Pontifical Decree ''Solacium ac Levationem'' on 20 October 1959. The basilica enshrines a venerated Marian image that was granted a Pontifical decree of coronation titled ''Alacres Dei'' on 9 November 1959. The rite of coronation was executed on 12 March 1967 by the former Archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal

José Humberto Quintero Parra José Humberto Quintero Parra (September 22, 1902 – July 8, 1984) was the first Venezuelan Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Caracas from 1960 to 1980, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1961. Biography J ...

. The present church is dedicated to

Our Lady of Consolation Our Lady of Consolation or ''Mary, Consoler of the Afflicted'' (Latin: ) is a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It dates back to the second century and is one of her earliest Marian titles of honor. The title ''Comforter of the a ...

, the patroness of the state of Táchira. The reconstruction of the building was made by the efforts of Monsignor Miguel Ignacio Briceño Picón and Monsignor Alejandro Fernández Feo during the period of 1904 and 1913. It was remodeled under the administration of Monsignor Alejandro Figueroa Medina in time for the date of canonical coronation of the Marian image. The basilica was critically rebuilt in the 1960s due to the financial contributions and patronage of

Martín Marciales Moncada Martín Marciales Moncada, known as Martín Marciales, hijo (January 18, 1912 – March 6, 2001) was a Venezuelan visionary, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He critically contributed to the development of the city of San Cristóbal during the 20 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Our Lady of Consolation, Church Basilica churches in Venezuela Roman Catholic churches completed in 1690 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Venezuela

See also

References