The Slovenian Chapel in Washington, D.C.: The History of Its Foundation and Its Cultural, Political, and Religious Significance for Slove- nians and the Slovenian-American Community

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the creation of the Slovenian Chapel of Our Lady of Brezje in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. and its cultural, political, and religious significance for Slovenians and the Slovenian-American Community. The idea for its creation began with individual initiatives in the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s, these ideas eventually grew into an institutionalized project that transcended ideological differences and brought together a significant part of the Slovenian-American community. The paper reconstructs its development on the basis of the surviving written legacy of its creators and newspaper reports. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of the final form of the chapel - its architectural design, interior decoration and artistic symbolism, and the dedication ceremony in 1971, which brought together people of different beliefs and emphasised on a symbolic level their common identity and belonging to the Slovenian community.