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STATEWIDE RESPONSE FROM THE CATHOLIC DIOCESES IN GEORGIA TO GOVERNOR KEMP’S APRIL 20 UPDATE page 11 RESPUESTA DE LAS DIOCESIS CATOLICAS EN GEORGIA A LAS INSTRUCCIONES DEL 20 DE ABRIL DEL GOBERNADOR KEMP pagina 11 The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Savannah Vol. 100 No. 09 Thursday, April 30, 2020 Put Faith in Your Opinions southerncross-sav.org s V MjjjM ' li *1 KnoW 'I ft Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist has been designated a Basilica and is now named Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist. Above, Walt Harper, parishioner and Alcolyte took a photograph of the empty Basilica from his vantage point following the Mass on April 12. He commented on the strangeness of serving at a Mass with no congregants in the pews. Oue churches remain closed through May 30. Papal decree designates Cathedral a Minor Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah Named a Minor Basilica by Pope Francis By Peter Paolucci SAVANNAH, Ga. - is Holiness Pope Francis, through the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, recently issued a decree granting the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Savannah the title of Minor Basilica. This honor makes the Cathedral the first basilica in the Diocese of Savannah. Nationwide, there are just 87 churches, including 18 cathedrals, that carry this designation. The 143-year-old Roman Catholic Cathedral will officially be named The Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist. “The current Cathedral of St. John the Baptist was solemnly dedicated on April 30, 1876. Sadly on Sunday, February 6, 1898, the cathedral was almost total ly destroyed by fire. The rebuilt cathedral was dedicated on October 28, 1900 by Archbishop Sebastian Martinelli, Apostolic Delegate to the United States as the representative of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII. The almost 12 mil lion dollar restoration completed in 2000 restored it to its esteemed glory,” The Twin Spires—May 2020. Minor basilicas are traditionally named because of their antiquity, dignity, historical value, archi tectural and artistic worth, and significance as centers of worship. A basilica must “stand out as a center of active and pastoral litur gy,” according to the 1989 Vatican document Domus ecclesiae. The bestowal of the title ini tiates a very particular bond between the basilica and the Holy Father. Papal symbols signifying the relationship will be installed and blessed at an inaugural Mass solemnizing the designation of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist as a basilica later this year. Additional information on the significance of this designation can he found at: diosav.org/basihca.