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His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI
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ArchitectureThe church is patterned in the style of the Northern Italian, or Lombardy Romanesque, and resembles St. Paul's Basilica outside the Walls of Rome. The architects were from McGinnis and Walsh of Boston, who also designed the National Shrine in Washington D.C. found on the campus of Catholic University. The local architect was John Normile, and the contractor was Charles W. Wietz, both of Des Moines. The cost of the structure was $480,000.00 and could not be duplicated today for seven million dollars. It has a seating capacity of 900 with a completely equipped parish hall used for social and for educational purposes. The campanile at the northwest corner rises to a height of 115 feet. It houses a 600 pound bronze bell that is operated automatically with a hammer style percussion instrument. A special engraving with the name "St. Peter-1961" adorns the base of the bell. The Basilica of St. John is built of Indiana Limestone. It has a tile roof and a bronze cross located on top of the bell tower. The interior is finished in plaster cast and Travertine marble, a stone used in all classical Roman structures. Looking up you will see the gold coffered ceiling. The round form of the building is carried on in the ceiling, as it is in the arches down the length of the nave. All the gold used in the Basilica of St. John is gold leaf, not paint. Just below the ceiling are the clerestory windows. On the east clerestory windows you will find symbols highlighting the sacraments and cardinal virtues of the church. On the west clerestory windows you will find symbols highlighting the offices and teachings of humankind. Below the clerestory windows are seven quotations from Scripture which presents the founding or instituting the seven sacraments of the church. There is also one set of quotes from the Hail Mary prayer. Below the Scripture references are a series of marble disks, symbolizing the universality of the Catholic Church. |
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