Basilica of Saint Francis of the Wounds

The history of the sanctuary can be traced to the 18th century, with a small account of the church's construction, initiated around 1775 by one Francisco Xavier de Medeiros, a Portuguese soldier. The account attributes to Medeiros the building of two churches in the region, now located in Canindé and Baturité.^[2]

The works, although, were prolonged, with no written record to justify the delay. A local legend justifies it by narrating a feud over the area of the future church, solved by intervention of Saint Francis himself.^[2]

In addition to the supposed terrain feud, the droughts in the region in the end of the century (1777 and 1792–1793) delayed the construction even more — in 1787, twelve years after the construction's first brick, the terrain's charter still mentions a "church that [people] want to build to Saint Francis of the Wounds". The earliest account of a religious service in the church is dated to 1796.^[2]

In the beginning of the 20th century, more specifically, between the years of 1910 and 1915, the structure went through numerous renovations, enlarging the building and allowing a larger number of faithful inside. In the present, the church consolidated in an architectural style that blends baroque and neogothic elements.^[3][4]

On November 30, 1925, the parish sanctuary was elevated, by papal decree, to a minor basilica.^[3]

After the creation of the Diocese of Baturité in 2026 by Pope Leo XIV, the sanctuary went under the jurisdiction of the new ecclesiastical territory.^[5]

• Diocese of Baturité