[Gocamino] Basilicas and Cathedrals

[Eldor Pederson]

It is possible for a church to be both a basilica and a cathedral, for basilica is primarily an architectural designation while cathedral is a designation of church governance.  A basilica, sensu strictu, has an architectural form derivative of ancient Roman buildings called by the same name and is rectangular in ground plan. The earliest cathedrals were mostly basilicas for they were converted Roman buildings. Later it became common to build large churches in the form of a cross, though some, those following the architectural lead of the Pantheon in Rome, for example, are circular, while others have been built as rectangular buildings (or, as in the case of St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, have a basilica form by default as there was insufficient money to build the cruciform building originally intended to serve as the cathedral). 

A church becomes a cathedral when it is made the seat (cathedra) of an archbishop or a bishop, and while most cathedrals are large to very large churches, cathedral is not an architectural designation. Any type or style of building can serve as a cathedral once it is consecrated to that use. The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is not a basilica, for it is cruciform in shape, as are many of the world's most famous cathedrals. Seen from the air or in a blueprint of its floor plan, it resembles a cross. 

It should be noted that the term basilica is on occasion used to describe or to name church buildings that are not strictly rectangular, a usage that makes architectural historians cringe. St. Peter's is an example of such usage. Whatever the form of the building to which it is now applied, the term "basilica" is primarily used to name large and important churches even though many small churches have a basilica form.

La Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (The Basilica of St. John Latern), is a cathedral for it serves as the seat of the bishop of Rome (the pope) and as its name indicates it is a basilica.

E. O. Pederson