It’s in Florida, at one of my favorite churches: Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine (a stone’s throw from Disney World.)

Details, from Florida Catholic:

Good things come in threes, including basilicas within Florida.

The Sunshine State will be home to the 63rd basilica in the United States when Orlando’s National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe is granted the honorific title Aug. 22. The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments forwarded the degree of the title of minor basilica to Orlando Bishop Thomas Wenski via a letter.

In September 2007, Bishop Wenski filled out an exhaustive application requesting consideration of the title for the shrine. The 76–page application had to follow strict guidelines and answer specific questions asked by the Vatican. He said he was pleased Pope Benedict granted the request and stated the designation solidifies the important and unique ministry the shrine offers to area tourists and travelers.

“Becoming a basilica ties the local community more closely to the Holy Father. It expresses our loyalty to the successor of St. Peter and our affection for him,” Bishop Wenski said. “The setting of the shrine is very beautiful, with magnificent artwork that was designed to lift up minds and hearts, which is what prayer does — it lifts our minds and hearts.”

The shrine will receive the usual symbols for basilicas — the ombrellino (an umbrella), which in times of inclement weather is used by the Holy Father, tintinnabulum (bell), to announce the arrival of a pontiff, and a coat of arms. Bishop Wenski said all of the items remind visitors that the shrine is now one of “the pope’s churches,” and more specifically, “it’s Benedict’s church.”

Ground was broken for the shrine on Dec. 8, 1984, by Bishop Thomas Grady and the shrine’s founding rector, Father Joseph Harte. Within two years, the initial facility was completed, and groundbreaking for the main church occurred Aug. 22, 1990, the feast of Mary’s Queenship, under then–Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey. It earned the designation as a national shrine in 2007.

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