When it was completed in 1990 the Pope flew in for the consecration. He was said to have been reluctant to get involved, but relented when the government promised to build a new hospital as well. The papal procession travelled more than a kilometre to the basilica from the main gate along a broad piazza paved in marble. Few tourists pass this way now. Mass is said once a week.
Most local people go to the cathedral in town.
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