Basilica or cathedral?

[patnlcc]

Please settle an argument - what is the difference between a basilica and a cathedral?

[Sandy-Wroe]

A cathedral is the seat of a bishop. A basilica is a large church that has special ceremonial functions.

[heathfield]

There's this thing on the internet called Google, where you can look up dictionary definitions online, such as...

Basilica...

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/basilica

Cathedral...

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cathedral

It's very useful.

[coccinelle]

I asked this question a few years ago and got the following answer after some research. For a cathedral to become a basilica, the vatican claim it as being a pilgrimage site.

[boxtops]

so do I interpret therefore that a basilica can only be a Roman Catholic location?

[coccinelle]

boxtops, in my opinion, yes.

[jno]

Not just Catholic ones: Orthodox Christian churches (Greek or Russian) may be basilicas too.

[coccinelle]

jno, thanks for that I didn't know, but are they also pilgrimage places?

[jno]

sometimes, coccinelle, but I don't think it's necessary. The original basilicas were Roman public buildings; early Christians sometimes used these for churches and the name was partly transferred. I think its use may have developed slightly different in the Orthodox church - but this is definitely not my specialist subject. This explains a lot of it:

http://www.newworlden...ia.org/entry/Basilica

[MRMKHS1]

There is a site called Difference Between which is excellent.