National Shrine of
Saint Francis of Assisi



La Porziuncola Nuova, a scaled replica of Saint Francis's Porziuncola in Assisi, Italy, was dedicated in San Francisco on September 27, 2008 by Cardinal William J. Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Porziuncola means "small portion of land" and refers to the Benedictine chapel Saint Francis restored when he was a young man. For only the fifth time in Church/Papal History, a declaration was made by his Holiness Pope Benedict XVI naming The National Shrine and Porziuncola a Holy Site.