Today four Major Basilicas (all in Rome) are special centers of Catholic devotional life: St. Peter's, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. John Lateran. The Basilica of Saint Josaphat is a Minor Basilica created by Pope Pius XI in 1929 (the third church so honored in the USA). It fulfilled the necessary characteristics required by the Church to be so designated. Namely: it is a place of pilgrimage and special devotion, it is a center of historic significance for the Faith, and it is architecturally and artistically qualified for such an honor. Patterned after St. Peter's in Rome, it has all the elements of a classical Romanesque basilica. It is recognized by the city of Milwaukee as an officially designated landmark.