M AJ OR S H R IN E S I N THE A R C H D IO C E SE OF CIN C IN N ATI
relic of the true cross
What is a shrine? Associated with popular piety since the earliest days of the Church, shrines are places of pilgrimage and prayer. Pope St. John Paul II once said, “Christian shrines have always been, and continue to be, signs of God, and of His intervention in history. Each one of them is a memorial to the Incarnation and to the Redemption.” According to Archdiocese of Cincinnati Chancellor Father Steve Angi, Canon Law stipulates local shrines be approved by local bishops, national shrines approved by a country’s council of bishops and international shrines approved by the pope. According to the official Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, many places “often humble little churches in the cities or in the countryside, locally fulfill the same functions as shrines, even without canonical recognition. These also form part of the ‘topography’ of the faith… of a particular community living in a specific geographical area, on its journey towards the heavenly Jerusalem in faith.”
BY G A I L F I N KE 5 2 | TH E C ATHOLIC TE LEGR A P H
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is home to one national shrine, two local shrines, and many popular places for special prayers or devotions.
