Washington isn’t exactly known for its religious
memorials.
Tourists visit the city to see the Capitol, the White House, the
Washington Monument and other historical sites. However, the nation’s capital
also is home to a plethora of Catholic sites, symbols, and memorials interwoven
with the history and politics of the country, that even Washington natives
might not be familiar with.
Known affectionately as “Little Rome,” it is hard to
turn around in the Brookland neighborhood without running into some kind of
Catholic monument or symbolism. Home to The Catholic University of America, the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the St. John Paul
II National Shrine, the John Paul II Institute, the Franciscan Monastery of the
Holy Land in America and the Dominican House of Studies, just to name a few, it
is no wonder the neighborhood attracts Catholic sightseers in droves.
The basilica, with its soaring mosaic ceilings and Gothic-feeling catacombs, is the jewel of “Little Rome.” However, most tourists miss an unassuming little white statue on the east side of the national shrine. The St. Junipero Serra statue was erected in September 2015 when Pope Francis celebrated Mass to canonize Junipero.
St. Junipero was not born in America, but he eventually traveled here, helping to bring Christianity to the West Coast and modern-day California. Junipero Serra left his home on the island of Majorca, Spain, in 1728 when he felt called to the priesthood. The Franciscan friar first traveled to Mexico, and eventually to California, where he established 10 missions. He both worked to evangelize the region’s Native Americans and protested against the Spanish soldiers’ harsh treatment of them, though some argue he was harsh in his own evangelization of the native people.
This statue is a scale replica of one in the Capitol’s Statuary
Hall. In it, St. Junipero holds a cross in one hand and a church in the other.
These figures symbolize his goal to evangelize people who had never heard of
Jesus Christ.
Just a few hundred yards from the basilica’s statue, nestled into
old, hinge-creaking wooden chests, are the photos, documents, books, letters
and artifacts that comprise Catholic U.’s Archbishop Fulton Sheen collection.
Archbishop Sheen first attended the university as a student, then
returned to teach. During his 23 years as a professor, he developed a larger
and larger following, he began broadcasting on television and radio, maintained
a full teaching load, and wrote 34 books.
He was one of the most influential Catholic
“personalities.” Known across the country, Protestants and Catholics
alike gathered first around the radio to hear his Sunday evening Lenten
broadcasts, and later around the TV to watch his show “Life Is Worth
Living,” which drew 10 million viewers across the nation every week.
The Catholic U. collection is home to Archbishop Sheen’s “positio,” a huge, two-volume collection of
all the documents concerning his ongoing sainthood cause. This includes letters
between the prelate and St. John Paul and information on the miracle attributed
to Archbishop Sheen in 2010, among other things.
The collection also houses his complete FBI files, in which it is
clear that the archbishop wielded enough public sway to cause a stir, and
sometimes a memo to the president, whenever he started talking about the
Germans or the Soviets. The collection is open to the public by appointment.
About a mile away from the Sheen collection is a shrine to St.
John Paul operated by the Knights of Columbus. Impossible to miss, a sizable
chunk of the building’s front facade bears a brilliant banner of the beloved
pope looking out over the road with his familiar, friendly smile.
Just underneath that, facing a long, empty lawn, a slightly
larger-than-life statue of St. John Paul stands facing the absent crowd, his
arms raised in papal blessing.
This statue, by artist Chas Fagan, re-creates a scene from the
Oct. 7, 1979, Mass that St. John Paul celebrated on the National Mall. Fagan
captures that October day, right down to the notable breeze that swirled the
pope’s robes animatedly around his ankles.
Inside the shrine, Redemptor Hominis Church and the Luminous
Mysteries Chapel’s glistening mosaics invite visitors in for Mass. But the true
treasures of the shrine lie on the bottom floor in the “Gift of Love”
exhibit, which takes visitors on a tour through St. John Paul’s life, telling
his story through photos, videos, artifacts and documents.
The exhibit houses artifacts such as his shepherd’s staff, both
sets of robes — the simple cassock and formal chasuble — and others.
But the capital’s Catholicity is not confined to “Little
Rome.” A 10-minute walk from the U.S. Capitol, on the corner of Second and
C streets, the dark brown steeples of St. Joseph’s Church peek through the
buildings and trees.
An influx of German immigrants to Washington in the 1860s decided
that they needed to build their own Catholic church in the heart of the
capital. In October 1868, a group of 20,000 Catholics paraded out to lay the
cornerstone for what would become St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill.
Now, 150 years later, it is the go-to parish for Catholic members
of Congress.
Around the same time near Dupont Circle, another church began to
develop. St. Augustine Church, founded by a group of emancipated slaves, was
the first African American Catholic church in the city and is called the mother
church for black Catholics.
Originally, the group of free and emancipated African Americans
met in the basement of what was then St. Matthew’s Church because they were not
allowed to worship in the nave of the church with white parishioners.
Eventually, they built their own church, St. Augustine, along with the one of
the first black Catholic schools in the Washington Archdiocese.
Upon entering the church, it becomes immediately clear that the
thriving community hinges on music. In the sanctuary of the church, just in
front of the altar, a sleek, grand piano and microphone take center stage, and
off to the left a drum kit stands ready for duty.
The parish’s musical bent boasts a rich history. In 1873, the St.
Augustine choir became the first American opera company — black or white.
St. Augustine’s continues to advocate for and commemorate African
Americans in the church today.
These monuments commemorate the stories of only a few of the
religious figures that helped shape the U.S. and the world. Some others include
the Temperance Fountain, the statue of Bishop John Carroll at Jesuit-run
Georgetown University, statues of St. Damien in the Capitol and of Moses in the
Supreme Court and the Library of Congress, and countless others that visitors
can spend time exploring at their leisure.
