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September 23, 2005
Triple celebration next month open to entire Church of Newark
BY WARD MIELE
Managing Editor
NEWARK—Archbishop John J. Myers, on Sunday, Oct. 9, will lead a solemn observance of the 10th anniversary of both the pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II and the late Holy Father’s designation of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart as a Minor Basilica, all in conjunction with the closing of the Year of the Eucharist.
 Events begin at noon at the Cathedral Basilica with Mass and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Following Mass will be a solemn procession to nearby Saint Lucy Parish, 118 Seventh Ave., scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. At 1:45 p.m. there will be Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in the parish plaza.
All of the faithful of the local Church of Newark are invited to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime event.
It was during his pastoral visit to the Garden State a decade ago that Pope John Paul II, impressed with the beauty of the Cathedral Basilica, told then-Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, “this church should be a basilica.”
As Father Armand Mantia, Pastor of Saint Benedict Parish, Newark, who gives tours of the Cathedral Basilica, tells it, on his way back to the residence of the Vatican Observer to the United Nations in New York City, Pope John Paul II told Archbishop McCarrick how impressed he was with the Cathedral Basilica.
When he learned that it would soon be observing both its cornerstone laying and dedication and that plans were to raise the building to the dignity of a basilica, Pope John Paul II said simply and directly “it is a basilica,” forgoing the usual paperwork. With that, the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart became only the 41st minor basilica in the United States. (A column by Father Mantia detailing the entire episode appears on page 7).
Naming a church a basilica formally acknowledges that the structure has particular religious or historical importance such as St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Minor basilicas usually have special privileges and a distinctive emblem: an “umbrella” striped in yellow and red, to stand for the papal and senatorial colors. This “ombrellino” formally was carried over the Holy Father in the days when the papal entourage made official visits on horseback.
Other insignias of minor basilicas are a bell on a staff, used to alert people to the coming of the pope, and the right to display the papal coat of arms in the sanctuary or above the front door.
Looking ahead to the closing of the Year of the Eucharist, Pope Benedict XVI has said the October Synod of Bishops will be a fitting close to the Year of the Eucharist. He said the Synod would highlight the Eucharist as “the true treasure of the Church.”
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