Catedral Basílica Menor Nossa Senhora da Glória (or simply Catedral de Maringá 'Cathedral of Maringá' is a Roman Catholic

Roman Catholic Church

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

 cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...

 located in downtown Maringá

Maringá

Maringá is a city in southern Brazil that was founded on May 10, 1947. Maringá is the third largest city in the state of Paraná. The city has a population of 357,117 , 612,617 in its metropolitan area...

, Paraná

Paraná (state)

Paraná is one of the states of Brazil, located in the South of the country, bordered on the north by São Paulo state, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Santa Catarina state and the Misiones Province of Argentina, and on the west by Mato Grosso do Sul and the republic of Paraguay,...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, reaching 124 m in height. It was completed in 1972 and is the tallest church in South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 and the 16th tallest in the world.

Architect José Augusto Bellucci was inspired by the Soviet sputnik satellites when he designed the cathedral's modernist, conical shape. The design was idealized by the archbishop Dom Jaime Luiz Coelho.

The word poustinik assigns a person dwelling in a poustinia

Poustinia

A poustinia is a small sparsely furnished cabin or room where one goes to pray and fast alone in the presence of God. The word poustinia has its origin in the Russian word for desert...

, that is, someone who move away from the material world to be closer to God. The foundation stone, a piece of marble from St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter , officially known in Italian as ' and commonly known as Saint Peter's Basilica, is a Late Renaissance church located within the Vatican City. Saint Peter's Basilica has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world...

 in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 blessed by Pope Pius XII

Pope Pius XII

The Venerable Pope Pius XII , born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli , reigned as Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958....

, was laid on August 15, 1958. The church was built between July 1959 and May 10, 1972, the 25th birthday of the city.

External links

• http://www.maringaense.com/index.php?meio=maringa_turismo_detalhar&id=1 - Cathedral of Maringá
• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b33178
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4WBqjjmhrc - part one of a TV show about the cathedral
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYRHGxOIdhQ - part two of the same show
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg85RRT1JIM - part three of the same show
• http://www.teologiaparaleigos.com.br/news.php?cod=139 - the book "A igreja que brotou da mata" ["The church who grew up from the jungle"] written by the priest Orivaldo Robles