The Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon is a

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 ...

of the

Maronite Catholic Church The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic ''sui iuris'' particular church in full communion with the pope and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. Th ...

located in

North Jackson, Ohio North Jackson is an unincorporated community in central Jackson Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. It lies along State Route 45 between Salem and Warren. North Jackson is the site of a Marian shrine of the Catholic Church ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon.

History

The first proposal to establish a shrine to

Our Lady of Lebanon ar, سيدة لبنان , native_name_lang = , image = Ladylebanon.JPG , image_upright = , alt = , caption = Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon , map_type = , map_s ...

was initiated in 1960 between the Maronite priests of the United States and Archbishop Patrick O'Boyle of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. Nothing came of that proposal so the Rev. Peter Eid suggested that the Maronites from the

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, and the largest city and county seat of Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Youngstown had a city population of 60,068. It is a principal city of ...

area build the shrine. He bought in 1961 and the shrine was established two years later in 1963. Ground for the building was broken on August 16, 1964, and the statue of the Virgin Mary was placed on the tower on July 20. 1965. The shrine is a replica of the original shrine in

Harissa, Lebanon Harissa-Daraoun ( ar, حريصا–درعون) is a municipality that consists of two villages, Harissa and Daraoun, in the Keserwan District of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate of Lebanon. The municipality mayor from 2016 until 2022 is Mr. Nizar ...

. The facility was completed for $200,000 and it was dedicated by Auxiliary Bishop James Malone of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown The Diocese of Youngstown ( la, Dioecesis Youngstonensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church, consisting of six counties in Northeast Ohio: Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Stark, Portage, and Ashtabu ...

on Sunday, August 15, 1965.

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

decreed on July 8, 2014, that the shrine was elevated to the status of a minor basilica.

References

{{Maronite Church Christian organizations established in 1963 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1965 Our Lady of Lebanon, North Jackson Shrines to the Virgin Mary Maronite churches in the United States Eastern Catholic churches in Ohio