The Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation (also Basilica of Táriba; ) is a Catholic church located in the locality of

Táriba Táriba is a town in Táchira (state), Táchira, Venezuela, and is the capital of the Cárdenas Municipality. It was founded in 1602. Táriba has a population of 128,590. It's located on the outsides of the city of San Cristóbal, Táchira, San C ...

Táchira Táchira State (, ) is one of the 23 States of Venezuela, states of Venezuela. The state capital is San Cristóbal, Táchira, San Cristóbal. Táchira State covers a total surface area of and as of the 2011 census, had a population of 1,168,9 ...

state in the Andes of

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. It gained the title of basilica via

Pontifical decree A is the official measure with which the Holy See grants to institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life the recognition of ecclesiastical institution of pontifical right. When the decree of praise is issued in the form of an ...

titled ''Solacium ac Levationem'' on 20 October 1959. The basilica enshrines a venerated Marian image granted a Pontifical decree of coronation titled ''Alacres Dei'' on 9 November 1959 by

Pope John XXIII Pope John 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 on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

. 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

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 common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Francisco Martínez de Espinoza,

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are as ...

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 p ...

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. The present church is dedicated to

Our Lady of Consolation Our Lady of Consolation or Mary, Consolatress of the Afflicted (Latin: ) is a Roman Catholic Titles of Mary, title of the Blessed Virgin Mary venerated in the Catholic Church. History The origin of this invocation is derived from the August ...

, patron of the state Táchira.

gave it the title of

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

, as a work of Monsignor Miguel Ignacio Briceño Picón and due to the efforts made by Monsignor Alejandro Fernández Feo during the period of 1904 and 1913. It was remodeled under the administration of Monsignor Alejandro Figueroa Medina for the approaching date of the canonical coronation of the virgin. The basilica was critically rebuilt in the 1960s due to the contributions 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 Táriba

See also

References