The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Miracles ( es, Catedral Basílica Nuestra Señora de los Milagros), also Caacupé Cathedral, is the religious building that functions as the

Catholic 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 ...

cathedral of the city of

Caacupé Caacupé (; Guarani: ''Ka'akupe'', literally: "Behind the Mount") is a city and district in Paraguay. It is the capital of the department of Cordillera A cordillera is an extensive chain and/or network system of mountain ranges, such as those ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

, and also as the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé The Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé ( la, Dioecesis Caacupensis) is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the Ecclesiastical province of Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Asunción, Archdiocese of Asunción, which covers all and only Paraguay. Its cat ...

that was created as a territorial prelature in 1960 and was promoted to its current status in 1967 through the bull "Rerum catholicarum" of

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

. The Sanctuary of the Virgin of Caacupé is a Catholic basilica in Paraguay that was inaugurated on 8 December 1765 and became a place of pilgrimage for many local believers. Caacupé is considered the spiritual capital of Paraguay because it houses the largest sanctuary in the country. The temple, in addition to its status as a cathedral, is considered as a Catholic national sanctuary and

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 ...

. It is under the pastoral responsibility of Bishop Ricardo Jorge Valenzuela Ríos. The church has been visited by two different popes:

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

in May 1988 and

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

in July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St. Peter the Apostle Cathedral, Church Roman Catholic cathedrals in Paraguay Roman Catholic churches completed in 1765 Basilica churches in South America 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Paraguay

See also

References