Major basilica (Latin: Basilica maior, Basilicae maiores in plural) is the title given to the four highest-ranking Catholic churches[1]: St. Peter's Basilica, St. John Lateran, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore). All of them are located in Rome, Italy. St. John Lateran, the seat of the papal throne, is the oldest and the first in the established order of the papal basilicas before Saint Peter was built.
All other churches that have the title of a basilica are minor basilicas (Latin: Basilica minor).[2]
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The title of major basilica was introduced in 1300 by Pope Boniface VIII. With the promulgation of the bull "Antiquorum fida relatio", he instituted the Holy Year and set the conditions for indulgences. Pope Boniface VIII renewed certain "great remissions and indulgences for sins" which are to be obtained "by visiting the city of Rome and the venerable basilica of the Prince of the Apostles". He offered "not only full and copious, but the most full, pardon of all their sins", to those who fulfill certain conditions. First, as truly penitent they had to confess their sins, and second, they had to visit (make pilgrimages to) the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul, the respective burial sites of the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul.
In the second jubilee in 1350, Pope Clement VI added a third major basilica: St. John Lateran, Cathedral of Rome. He encouraged daily visits to St. John Lateran, besides those to the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul outside the Walls. Finally, at the next Jubilee in 1390, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the oldest church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was added to the list. The visit to these four churches has remained as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman Jubilee indulgence.
To this class belong the four great ancient churches of Rome:
These four major basilicas are distinguished by their having a holy door and for being prescribed as destinations for visits as one of the conditions for gaining the Roman Jubilee. Only the Pope and his delegatees may celebrate mass at the high altar. Until recently, the four churches were open 24 hours a day; their staff included a college of priests to be continually available to hear confessions.
According to the 1927 Lateran Treaty, the three major basilicas located in Italian territory enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies.[7][8] The major basilicas are patrolled internally by police agents of Vatican City State. These properties, located across Rome, were found essential institutions necessary to the character and mission of the Holy See.[8]
The four papal[9] or major basilicas were formerly known as "patriarchal basilicas". Together with the minor basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls, they were associated with the five ancient patriarchal sees of Christendom (see Pentarchy)[10]: St. John Lateran was associated with Rome, St. Peter's with Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), St. Paul's with Alexandria (in Egypt), St. Mary Major with Antioch (the Levant) and St. Lawrence with Jerusalem.
Upon relinquishing in 2006 the title of Patriarch of the West, Pope Benedict XVI renamed these basilicas from "Patriarchal Basilicas" to "Papal Basilicas". Until Pope Benedict XVI, the title "patriarchal" (now "papal") was officially given to two churches associated with Saint Francis of Assisi situated in or near his home town: