Basilica of St. Francis Xavier, Church and Rectory - Dyersville, Iowa - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Basilica features Gothic architecture. This includes columns and vaulted ceilings. The church has a seating capacity of about 1200 people. There are about 5000 people total in the parish.

It has 64 stained glass windows. There are two notable windows in the church. The first is the rose window above the entrances to the church. In the early 1970s a window featuring a Native American design was placed there after the previous window had begun to fall apart. Another window features Saint Francis Xavier ministering to the Indians. The maker of the window had mistakenly used images of Native Americans instead of images of people from India.

The main altar is of Italian marble. The Baldacchino—canopy over the main altar—was based in part on the one at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls near Rome. The two side altars are both made of carved butternut wood with gold highlights.

There are two steeples which are 212 feet tall. The crosses are 14 feet tall. This helps make the church visible from several miles away. Pilots often use these steeples as landmarks during flights.

The church is decorated with a number of paintings and frescos. Much of this work was done by a Milwaukee area brother and sister team in the first part of the 20th century.

Because one of the roles of the Basilica is to serve as the Pope's church in the event he would visit the area, the church features a special bell, a Tintinnabulum, and umbrella, an Umbraculum. Because the Pope is not expected to visit the area in the foreseeable future, the Umbrella cannot be opened all the way.

Dyersville was originally settled by English immigrants. Within a few years the English moved on. After that many German immigrants began to arrive in the area. A parish was founded in the area to serve these immigrants.

Shortly afterwards, the first Saint Francis Xavier Church was built in Dyersville, Iowa. For a number of years this church served the needs of the community. But by the 1880s, it became clear that with the increasing population of Dyersville and the surrounding area that the old church building would no longer be adequate.

The new church building was begun in the mid-1880s. The parish decided on a large Gothic architecture building in order to serve the increased population. The pastor at the time also had the foresight to have the altar placed upon a foundation of solid rock, which is one of the requirements for an altar to be consecrated. By 1888 the church was finished. When the building was dedicated, special trains brought people from all over the state of Iowa to witness this dedication. After the completion of the present building, the old church was converted into classrooms. It was later torn down after a new school was completed.

The move to elevate Saint Francis Xavier began in the 1940s. Then Father Hoffman, who had served in Europe began to advance the cause to Vatican officials. The cause was furthered when a high ranking German Cardinal visited the church. In the mid-1950s the church building was consecrated. On the interior there are a number of small gold crosses on the side walls, marking the twelve places where the church walls were anointed with chrism when the church was consecrated. Once consecrated a church building may never be used for any other purpose and only consecrated church can be elevated to the rank of a Basilica. Previously the parish had worked hard to attain and maintain a debt-free status, a preliminary requirement before a church can be consecrated.