Pope John Paul II declared St. Mary’s a basilica in 1985 and later visited the Valley in 1987. "And you can still come here and kneel at the kneeler he knelt that,” said Slattum.

The renovated structure adjacent to St. Mary’s Basilica on North 3rd and East Monroe streets was home to Franciscan friars for more than 70 years until they left the church they founded in the ...