The Archdiocese of Denver was erected as a diocese in 1887 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1941, covering 24 counties in northern Colorado. Its mother church is the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, a French Gothic building dedicated in 1912 and named a minor basilica in 1979. The archdiocese oversees parishes, schools, and lay apostolates throughout the Denver metropolitan area and northern Colorado.