That’s where the priests keep their drag and shiny things. There’s more satin in that room then in all the bordellos of New Orleans.

Yeah, I’m a 4th generation Washingtonian and we all call it the National Shrine, but there are tons of Catholics in those generations too, so maybe that’s why.

It is both a national shrine and a basilica. The “national shrine” honorific was bestowed upon it by the American bishops because it is a church with certain national significance. (Actually, unlike most other churches designated as “national shrines,” it was built with a national purpose in mind…a national pilgrimage church dedicated to Our Lady and a roughly Catholic equivalent to the Washington National Cathedral. ) Later, it was designated a “minor basilica” by the Holy See in the early 90s, which is an analogous honorific for churches with international significance. The status is meant to be evocative of the “major basilicas” of the Pope in Rome, which are St. Peter’s, St. John Lateren, St. Paul’s Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major.