The Basilica of Holy Mary, the Help of Christians (Latin: Basilicæ de Nostra Domina Mariæ Auxiliatricis Christianorum) also known as the National Shrine of Our Mother of Sheshan (Chinese: 佘山進敎之佑聖母大殿; pinyin: Shéshān jìnjiào zhī yòu shèngmǔ dàdiàn)[1] is a Roman Catholic Marian shrine in Shanghai, China.

Pope Pius XII raised the Marian shrine to the status of Minor Basilica via his Pontifical decree Compertum Habemus on 12 September 1942.

Subsequently, construction of a church designed by the French Jesuit brother Léon Mariot (馬历耀 Ma Liyao, 1830–1902) began in 1871.

In 1899–1901, the French Jesuits built an astronomical observatory on the top of the hill, which included a telescope bought by father Stanislas Chevalier (蔡尚質 Cai Shangzhi, 1852–1930) in France.

The Shanghai Jesuits asked the Belgian missionary-architect father Alphonse De Moerloose (和羹柏 He Gengbo, 1858–1932) to design the plans for a monumental new basilica.

After the demolition of the old church in 1923, the new basilica on top of the hill was slowly built from 1924 to 1935, under the daily supervision of the Portuguese Jesuit missionary-architect father François-Xavier Diniz (葉肇昌 Ye Zhaochang, 1869–1943).

Pope Pius XI issued a decree Quod Te Delegimus on 20 January 1924, which appointed the Apostolic Delegate to China, Cardinal Celso Benigno Luigi Costantini to convoke the first national synod of Chinese bishops.

Pope Pius XII formally raised the Sheshan church to the rank of minor basilica via his pontifical decree Compertum Habemus (originally written on 24 July 1942) and was officially signed and notarized on 12 September 1942.

The stained-glass windows of the church, carvings along the Via Dolorosa, the statue atop the bell tower, and various other works of iconography were destroyed.

In 1874, Pope Pius IX declared that pilgrims who went to Sheshan in May (traditionally a Marian month) would receive a plenary indulgence.

[5] Every May, the church becomes the destination for pilgrims who travel far and wide to make their annual pilgrimage at Sheshan, praying the Way of the Cross, the Rosary and attending Mass at this holy site.