The Nation’s Capital is not necessarily the first place that comes to mind when considering a pilgrimage. Yet, there are a surprising number of Catholic sites to visit in the DC Metro area between touring the Capitol, the White House, the Smithsonian museums and the national monuments. Some highlights of a trip to Catholic Washington include:
- Visiting the 10th largest church in the world at the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception;
- Venerating the relics of John Paul II at the Saint John Paul II National Shrine;
- Stepping inside the Nativity Grotto or the re-created Sepulcher at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America;
- Making a pilgrimage to the nearby National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg.
Downtown Washington
An essential stop on any trip to DC is a visit to the White House. In addition to being the President’s Home, the executive mansion has welcomed many saints over the nation’s history. In modern times, Presidents have received St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta at the White House. Going further back into history, the tireless Redemptorist priest, Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos came during the Civil War for a meeting with President Lincoln in a failed attempt to exempt seminarians from the draft. In 1889, President Grover Cleveland welcomed delegates to the National Black Catholic Congress to the White House, including the first ordained black Catholic priest in America, Venerable Augustus Tolton of Illinois.
Amid the nearby museums and historic sites such as Ford’s Theater, the International Spy Museum, and the National Portrait Gallery – is historic St. Patrick’s Church.
The church was established in 1794 to provide for the needs of the laborers who constructed the White House and Capitol Building. The first American to be ordained a priest, Father William Matthews, was appointed its pastor in 1804; the architect of the White House was among its parishioners; the invading British soldiers attended Mass here during the War of 1812 before invading the Capitol; and some of the church’s early treasures were donated by foreign monarchs, including the Emperor of Brazil and King of France.
Capitol Hill
At the summit of the green expanse of the National Mall is the Capitol Building, the center of the political universe in Washington. Inside is a reminder of the powerful, though often hidden, influence that American Catholics have had in shaping the Republic.
By tradition, each State has donated two statues of notable citizens that comprise the National Statuary Hall Collection. Five prominent Catholics are among these 100 statues in the Capitol: Charles Carroll of Maryland, the only Catholic signatory of the Declaration of Independence; St. Damien of Moloka’i of Hawaii; Venerable Father Eusebio Kino of Arizona; Mother Joseph Pariseau of the Sisters of Charity of Providence, who led missionaries to the Pacific Northwest and whose statue was provided by Washington State; and St. Junipero Serra of California located prominently in Statuary Hall.
Tucked behind Capitol Hill is the St. Joseph’s Church, which has stood in the shadow of the Capitol’s dome for more than 140 years. The cornerstone was laid in the aftermath of the Civil War in 1868 by a delegation that included President Andrew Johnson. It was originally built as the “cathedral” for the city’s German-Catholic population and its design was actually modeled on that of the grand gothic Cathedral of Cologne. The church remains popular with legislator, judges and visitors to the Capitol.
Nearby is the imposing Supreme Court building, which is often the battleground for protecting religious freedom and the sanctity of life, including the wonderful Dobbs decision in 2022. This venerable institution has been influenced by many phenomenal Catholic jurists including Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Next to the Court is the Library of Congress. Among its many treasures, are two historic bibles dating from mid fifteenth century Germany: the hand-written Mainz bible and the Gutenberg Bible, which was the first book printed with movable metal type in Europe.
National Mall
A full day could easily be spent exploring the National Mall, the nearly two mile grassy expanse that extends from the steps of the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial. The Mall is filled with monuments and cultural treasures, such as the many Smithsonian museums that offer free admission. Nearby is the Museum of the Bible, with fascinating exhibits on the impact of the Bible on American society, as well as a re-creation of a first century Nazarene village.
A stroll through the National Mall is a living history lesson, especially the monuments to the thousands of citizen-soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of freedom, commemorated at the solemn memorials of the Vietnam and Korean Wars as well as the Second World War.
At the Vietnam War Memorial, pause to remember Father Vincent Capodanno (panel 25E, row 95), a Navy chaplain killed while on active duty during the war and recipient of the Medal of Honor; his cause for canonization is under investigation. At the Korean War Memorial, recall Father Emil Kapaun, a Kansas priest who served as an Army Chaplain in the Second World War and the Korean War; he was taken captive in Korea where he died in a Chinese prison camp. He received the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery and his cause for canonization is also being investigated.
Georgetown
Georgetown is the oldest neighborhood in D.C. and boasts a strong Catholic heritage. Its quaint tree lined streets are filled with brick townhouses, Georgian mansions, trendy shops, unique bars, gourmet restaurants, and an upscale riverfront promenade and waterfront park. It is most famous for Georgetown University, America’s oldest Catholic university.
The university was established in 1789 and is almost as old as the Republic itself. The minute visitors pass through the gates, they enter an Old World campus steeped in history. The most picturesque building on campus is Healy Hall, built in Old Word European style with its 200 foot tower and spire. It is named after Father Patrick Healy, the late nineteenth century President of Georgetown who is seen as its second founder. He is credited with transforming it from a small liberal arts college to a prestigious Catholic university. Even more remarkable, he was born a slave in Georgia and rose to become the first Black president of a predominantly white university in the post Civil War era. In front of the gorgeous building is an imposing statue of the university’s first president and founder, Bishop John Carroll.
The spiritual center of the university is Dahlgren Chapel. Inside the chapel is a precious treasure, called the Dahlgren Iron Cross. The steel cross dates back to 1634 and is believed to have been the cross that the Jesuits used for the first public mass celebrated in the Thirteen Colonies in 1634, when the first Catholic settlers arrived in Maryland.
While the story of the first Puritan settlers who arrived aboard the Mayflower at Plymouth Rock is well known, not everyone knows the story of the Ark and the Dove. English Catholics fleeing persecution sailed on these two ships and disembarked on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay to establish a Catholic refuge in British North America: Maryland. It is believed that the Dahlgren Iron Cross may have been forged on one of these two ships as they sailed to the New World and a nail at the bottom of the cross is believed to have come from the hull of one of these ships.
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception is the largest Catholic Church in the U.S. and among the ten largest in the world. In a capital city filled with secular monuments to the nation’s grandeur, the vision was to build an equally monumental Catholic shrine to honor Our Blessed Mother, whom Pope Pius IX had deemed patroness of America in 1847 under the title of the Immaculate Conception.
The decision to place the United States under the patronage of Our Blessed Mother has its origins in the earliest writings of America’s first bishop, John Carroll of Baltimore. In his first pastoral letter in 1792, he entrusted his ministry over the entire country to the care of Our Blessed Mother. When the bishops of the rapidly growing Republic gathered for their sixth provincial assembly in Baltimore in 1846, they unanimously agreed to seek the Holy Father’s permission to have Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception, named Patroness of the United States.
Also known as “Mary’s Shrine,” this grand church was built at the dawn of the American century, at a time when the Catholic Church’s influence was ascendant in society. The Basilica’s cornerstone was laid in 1920 and the first mass was celebrated on Easter Sunday 1924. In terms of both size and splendor, this Basilica rivals most of the great basilicas of Europe, attracting over one million visitors each year. The Basilica consists of over 70 chapels and oratories that span devotions from all corners of the world, representing both the universality of the Church and the melting pot of America.
The Upper Church is resplendent with its massive 3,610 square foot red Byzantine-tiled mosaic of Christ in Majesty. Its newly restored Trinity Dome is lined with images of the saints of the Americas; the restoration was funded, in part, through a nationwide collection that took place in parishes across the U.S. on Mothers’ Day 2017.
The Upper Church also contains over twenty chapels and oratories dedicated to particular Marian devotions and individual saints, as well as special chapels dedicated to the joyful, sorrowful, and glorious mysteries of the Rosary. The Lower Crypt contains seventeen Marion chapels, each dedicated to a particular Marian devotion, ranging from Our Lady of Brezje (Slovakia) to Our Lady of La Vang (Vietnam). There is also the Hall of American Saints, with large statues depicting the lives of these saints.
The Lower Crypt is filled with papal artifacts, tracing the close connection that has always existed between the Holy See and this church. The Basilica was built with the explicit blessing of Pope St. Pius X and he personally donated the equivalent of about $400 to support its construction. A relic of this saintly pope is found in the Chapel of St. Pius X.
Along the bridge connecting the Hall of Saints to the Memorial Chapel, the papal tiara of Pope St. Paul VI is displayed; the only papal crown displayed outside of Rome. St. Paul VI was the last pope to wear the tiara. Moved by the spirit of Vatican II, he abandoned it on the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, asking that it be sold and the funds directed to the poor. New York’s Cardinal Archbishop, Francis Spellman, arranged for the tiara to be purchased and brought to America in 1968, and it has since resided at the Basilica. Also on display is the golden stole that belonged to Pope St. John XXIII, which he wore for the convocation of Vatican II.
Catholic University of America and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine
Adjacent to the Basilica is the Catholic University of America. Also known as “the Bishops’ University,” it was established in 1885 and it is the only university founded by American bishops. In addition to graduating several American cardinals and bishops, famous alumni include the comedian Ed McMahon, actress Susan Sarandon, and news anchor Brian Williams. Across the street from the university campus is the Dominican House of Studies, with the largest population of Dominican friars and novitiates in the western hemisphere.
The Saint John Paul II National Shrine, operated by the Knights of Columbus, is located on the Catholic University of America campus. Featuring a 16,000 square foot permanent exhibition, there are nine galleries depicting the Pope’s life. The shrine also houses two first-class relics of the saint: a glass reliquary containing a vial of the Pope’s blood, and a blood-stained piece of the cassock that the Pope was wearing on the day that he was shot in St. Peter’s Square. The shrine’s chapel contains an image of Divine Mercy blessed by St. John Paul II, and an icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa from his native Poland.
Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America
The Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America is a short drive from the Catholic University of America campus. The Franciscans are responsible for maintaining the holy sites in the Holy Land and this monastery contains several re-creations of these sites, including a scaled replica of Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
The idea of building a replica of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in America started in the late nineteenth century, when two Franciscans who had worked in the Holy Land found themselves in New York. Although they dreamed of building the Holy Sepulcher on a hill high above Staten Island overlooking New York Harbor, they eventually built it in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington and began construction of this monastery in 1897. To fund the construction, the Franciscans sold small paper bricks with a medallion of St. Anthony embedded, called “St. Anthony bricks,” for ten cents a piece. This unorthodox fundraising campaign resulted in the monastery being constructed debt free.
The monastery grounds are open daily and guided tours are available. In addition to re-creating the Holy Land sites, there are replicas on the grounds of other famous pilgrimage sites, such as the Lourdes grotto and St. Francis of Assisi’s Portiuncula. There are even underground catacombs, modeled on those from ancient Rome. Visitors can also stroll through some beautiful gardens and an outdoor Way of the Cross.
Extend your pilgrimage
Looking to add to your Washington DC pilgrimage? There are significant sites to visit within 90 minutes of DC, including the historic Catholic sites of Baltimore and the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Learn more here>>
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