Basilica of the Immaculate Conception

History & Significance

Basilica · Est. Current church dedicated May 20, 1928 (parish founded 1847)

The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic church in Waterbury, Connecticut, serving the Archdiocese of Hartford. The parish dates to 1847; the present church, designed by the Boston firm Maginnis & Walsh and modeled on the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, was dedicated on May 20, 1928 by Bishop John Joseph Nilan. On February 9, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI raised it to the rank of minor basilica.

Italian Renaissance Revival, modeled on St. Mary Major, Rome

• •Minor basilica since 2008 (designated February 9, 2008 by Pope Benedict XVI)
• •Belongs to the Archdiocese of Hartford (whose cathedral is the Cathedral of St. Joseph)
• •Present church dedicated May 20, 1928 by Bishop John Joseph Nilan
• •Designed by the Boston firm Maginnis & Walsh, modeled on the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome
• •Parish founded in 1847; among the first U.S. churches dedicated to the Immaculate Conception after the 1854 decree