EXCLUSIVE | Young adult who made a pilgrimage to all 94 US basilicas says they ‘represent the real American dream’

There are almost 100 basilicas in the U.S., and each one reveals a piece of the Church’s history and the Holy Spirit’s work throughout the country, according to Grady Connolly, a Catholic social media professional who has made a pilgrimage to all of them. 

“If you want to see how deeply rooted Catholicism is in the American story, spend time learning about the 94 minor basilicas of the U.S.,” Connolly told Zeale News in a July 1 interview. “Together, they reveal a remarkable history of faith, sacrifice, beauty, and missionary zeal that continues to shape our nation today.”

Connolly’s reflection comes as the U.S. celebrates its 250th anniversary — yet he also emphasized that the Catholic Church’s presence here stretches even farther back, to the first Spanish settlement in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1565. 

“From the very beginning, Christians who came to this new land in search of a better life also built places to worship God, receive the sacraments, and pass on the faith to future generations,” Connolly said. 

Since then, the number of churches in the country continued to rise as the faith was spread by missionary Catholics. Now, Connolly noted, the U.S. ranks among the top 10 countries with the most basilicas in the world. 

“For such a young nation, that is remarkable,” he said. “America's traditions of liberty, opportunity, and self-governance have given generations of Christians the freedom to live boldly, build thriving communities, and place God at the center of their lives.”

Connolly, an entrepreneur who founded the social media agency the Social Thomist, also commented that the basilicas tell a story of what people can build when they depend on God and orient their gifts and talents toward Him. 

“These basilicas stand as lasting reminders of immigrants, missionaries, and ordinary believers who relied on God while laying the foundations of both the American Church and the nation itself,” he said. “In many ways, these basilicas represent the real American dream. They are visible signs of what free people, trusting in God's providence, can build when their lives are ordered toward heaven. Like the humble offerings at the Wedding at Cana, God has taken the faith and sacrifices of generations of believers and transformed them into something abundant and beautiful for His glory.” 

Connolly’s interest in visiting all 94 basilicas stemmed from a habit he developed as a freshman in 2017 at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.: praying at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which he did every day throughout his freshman year. He explained that after he learned the pope gives churches the title of minor basilica “in recognition of their history, beauty, and spiritual significance,” he considered how much grace he had experienced at the national shrine. Trusting in God’s providence, he resolved to visit all of the basilicas across the country.

“What began as a bucket-list dream became a four-year pilgrimage across the United States,” he remarked.

Planning the journeys was an immense logistical challenge, but one that turned into “a labor of love,” Connolly explained. He worked to map out every detail, grouping together visiting multiple nearby basilicas in the same trip. There were early mornings, late nights, and hundreds of miles driven in a day to reach more than one church. He called basilicas ahead of time to ensure they would be open, as some had smaller windows or availability than others. 

He encountered a variety of architectural styles that reflected the cultures and traditions of the people who made them, adding, “what captivated me most was not the craftmanship, but the stories they tell.”

“The missionary zeal, sacrifice, and divine inspiration behind each basilica reveal the remarkable work of the Holy Spirit throughout the United States,” Connolly said. He noted it felt impossible to choose a favorite, reflecting that each basilica, from the small wooden mission churches to towering Byzantine churches, has its own beauty, history, devotion, and story worth telling.

Ultimately, Connolly said the pilgrimage “made me fall deeply in love with the American Catholic Church.” 

“Although our nation is young compared to Europe or the Holy Land, the Church in the United States is a remarkable wellspring of grace,” he said. “From the earliest Catholic settlements, faithful men and women made God the foundation of their new lives.”

The basilicas as a whole “reveal a rich legacy of faith” that traces back to the earliest years and continues to grow today, Connolly reflected: “Whether Spanish missionaries in California, French settlers along the Gulf Coast, or Polish immigrants building vibrant parish communities in Massachusetts, each basilica tells the story of people who carried their faith across oceans and helped build the American Church.”

His final stop was the Mission San Francisco de Asís in California — a state filled Catholic missions, a number of which were personally founded by St. Juníperso Serra. These churches, Connolly said, “hold a special place in the history of both the Church and our nation,” as St. Serra established them to evangelize Native peoples and build long-lasting Christian communities. 

“As Spanish settlement expanded throughout California, St. Serra worked tirelessly to ensure that Native peoples were cared for and their dignity was respected,” Connolly recalled. He added that at the time of the saint’s death in 1784, the missions had baptized nearly 7,000 indigenous people.

St. Serra is one of the many saints “who responded to the spiritual and material needs of the people across this land,” according to Connolly, who listed St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, John Neumann, and Katharine Drexel as other examples. Beyond building churches, a number of Catholics established hospitals, schools, orphanages, and other institutions to serve the human person. 

Connolly emphasized that amid the rich history of the basilicas across the U.S., the story of Catholic missionary zeal in the country is still being written — and the faithful of today must rise to the occasion. 

“We are called,” he said, “to be the next generation of saints who will continue building up the Church in America.” 

He shared that he hopes there will be “dozens more” basilicas across the country by the end of his life, saying it would "be one of the signs that we have continued to carry the torch as missionaries in this land of opportunity.”