The Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Miracles (), also Caacupé Cathedral, is the religious building that functions as the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cathedral of the city of

Caacupé Caacupé (; Guaraní language, Guarani: Ka'akupe , literally: "Behind the Mount") is a city and district in Paraguay. It is the capital of the Department (subnational entity), department of Cordillera Department, Cordillera. The town was founded i ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, and also as the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé The Roman Catholic Diocese of Caacupé () is a Latin Rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of Archdiocese of Asunción, which covers all and only Paraguay. Its cathedral episcopal see is a Minor Basilica and National Shrine: C ...

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 (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

. The Sanctuary of

the Virgin of Caacupé ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

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 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 ...

. 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 (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in May 1988 and

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

in July 2015.

References

Roman Catholic cathedrals in Paraguay Roman Catholic churches completed in 1765 Basilica churches in South America 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Paraguay {{Paraguay-RC-cathedral-stub

See also

References