4 ms·

I'm curious what "minor" means exactly in this context? I've seen the Sagrada familia, and it ain't small!

Cheer2171 3y ago
Organizational hierarchy of the Catholic Church: a building is a cathedral if and only if it is the seat of a bishop, no matter how grand or modest the building is. There can not be more than one cathedral in a diocese. But colloquially, Sagrada Familia is what most people would consider a cathedral.
- rsynnott 3y ago
  > There can not be more than one cathedral in a diocese. There can be, though it's not common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-cathedral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-cathedral
- prmoustache 3y ago
  Also a basilica can be a cathedral and vice versa. Saint-Denis in Paris is both a basilica and cathedral.
  - areyousure 3y ago
    The page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis states > Although known as the "Basilica of St Denis", the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican.
    - prmoustache 3y ago
      Does it matter when it has been called like that for more than 12 centuries?
      - pas 3y ago
        Well there's a lot of people with the family name King, but you know, they still have to play (and win!) the fancy hat game to be actually granted royal rights.
        prmoustache 3y ago
        In that case it is different because it is/was a building used by the french church. Not some random one named like this by someone with no relation to the church.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
epolanski 3y ago
A cathedral is the official seat of the local the bishop and the Sagrada Familia isn't one. A basilica on the other hand is an honorific title granted to some churches by the pope for historical/religious reasons. An interesting note: Saint Peter in Rome, the most famous church in the christian world is not a cathedral itself as it is not where the pope has its seat, that's actually another basilica in Rome, Saint John Lateran, which makes it the most important church in the catholic hierarchy with the title of "Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput", or "Mother and leader of all the churches in the world".
- bombcar 3y ago
  The other interesting thing about that is the cathedral seat of the Pope is outside the Vatican City - so it is in his religious territory as Bishop of Rome but not in his secular state.
  - anon291 3y ago
    It's also why St Peters is not the cathedral of Rome. It's not in Rome.
    - pmontra 3y ago
      It's been not in Rome only since Vatican City came into existence in 1929. It's been in Rome every single year before then. Saint John Lateran is also not in Italy [1] due to an extraterritoriality treaty in 1929, part of the same treaty that established Vatican City. By the way, that church is exactly 1700 years old this year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lat...
      - anon291 3y ago
        I should have said it's why it can't become the cathedral of rome.
        3y ago
diggan 3y ago
Religions like to "rank" things so it's clear who's on top and who's on the bottom. In terms of churches, same thing applies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Chur... In short, the "major" is reserved for four top churches in Rome. "Minor" is used to signal that the church is of significant importance, but not as important as the major ones. It's not related to the size at all :)
eadmund 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Chur... indicates that there are four major basilicas and almost 2,000 minor ones. Seems like the four major basilicas have historical (maybe even pre-Schism?) associations, while the minor ones are designated by the pope.

Organizational hierarchy of the Catholic Church: a building is a cathedral if and only if it is the seat of a bishop, no matter how grand or modest the building is. There can not be more than one cathedral in a diocese. But colloquially, Sagrada Familia is what most people would consider a cathedral.

rsynnott 3y ago
> There can not be more than one cathedral in a diocese. There can be, though it's not common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-cathedral https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-cathedral
prmoustache 3y ago
Also a basilica can be a cathedral and vice versa. Saint-Denis in Paris is both a basilica and cathedral.
- areyousure 3y ago
  The page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Saint-Denis states > Although known as the "Basilica of St Denis", the cathedral has not been granted the title of Minor Basilica by the Vatican.
  - prmoustache 3y ago
    Does it matter when it has been called like that for more than 12 centuries?
    - pas 3y ago
      Well there's a lot of people with the family name King, but you know, they still have to play (and win!) the fancy hat game to be actually granted royal rights.
      - prmoustache 3y ago
        In that case it is different because it is/was a building used by the french church. Not some random one named like this by someone with no relation to the church.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

epolanski 3y ago

A cathedral is the official seat of the local the bishop and the Sagrada Familia isn't one. A basilica on the other hand is an honorific title granted to some churches by the pope for historical/religious reasons. An interesting note: Saint Peter in Rome, the most famous church in the christian world is not a cathedral itself as it is not where the pope has its seat, that's actually another basilica in Rome, Saint John Lateran, which makes it the most important church in the catholic hierarchy with the title of "Omnium Urbis et Orbis Ecclesiarum Mater et Caput", or "Mother and leader of all the churches in the world".

bombcar 3y ago
The other interesting thing about that is the cathedral seat of the Pope is outside the Vatican City - so it is in his religious territory as Bishop of Rome but not in his secular state.
- anon291 3y ago
  It's also why St Peters is not the cathedral of Rome. It's not in Rome.
  - pmontra 3y ago
    It's been not in Rome only since Vatican City came into existence in 1929. It's been in Rome every single year before then. Saint John Lateran is also not in Italy [1] due to an extraterritoriality treaty in 1929, part of the same treaty that established Vatican City. By the way, that church is exactly 1700 years old this year. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lateran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbasilica_of_Saint_John_Lat...
    - anon291 3y ago
      I should have said it's why it can't become the cathedral of rome.
      - 3y ago

diggan 3y ago

Religions like to "rank" things so it's clear who's on top and who's on the bottom. In terms of churches, same thing applies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Chur... In short, the "major" is reserved for four top churches in Rome. "Minor" is used to signal that the church is of significant importance, but not as important as the major ones. It's not related to the size at all :)

eadmund 3y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Church https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilicas_in_the_Catholic_Chur... indicates that there are four major basilicas and almost 2,000 minor ones. Seems like the four major basilicas have historical (maybe even pre-Schism?) associations, while the minor ones are designated by the pope.