Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Indiana

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The Basilica of the Sacred Heart serves as the college church of the University of Notre Dame as well as the mother church of the Congregation of Holy Cross in the United States. The neo-gothic church features 44 large stained glass windows and murals by Vatican painter Luigi Gregori. The basilica bell tower stands 218 feet high.

The current edifice was preceded by a smaller structure erected in 1848 by Father Edward Sorin, CSC, the founder of the University of Notre Dame. The current neo-gothic church was begun in 1870 and consecrated by Bishop Joseph Dwenger on August 15, 1888. In 1968, the church was renovated with the intention of bringing it to line with the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. The church again received a renovation 20 years later executed by Conrad Schmitt Studios. The conservation and restoration of the historic stained glass windows, created in LeMans, France, was one of the studio’s largest single projects, with 116 windows and over 1200 panels of glass. On January 17, 1992, Pope John Paul II raised the Church of the Sacred Heart to the status of Basilica.