Antipolo Bishop Francisco de Leon has declared the St. Joseph Parish Church in Rizal province’s Baras town as a diocesan shrine.
CBCP News said the decree, dated June 30, was announced during a Mass at the said church.
It said the church in Baras is the eighth diocesan shrine in the Antipolo diocese after the Our Lady of Light in Cainta, St. Arnold Janssen in Taytay, St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Antipolo, St. Mary Magdalene in Pililla, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Cardona, Our Lady of the Abandoned and St. Paul of the Cross in Makati City.
Parish priest Father Rodney Cruz said the church’s new status is “truly a blessing” for the parish “as we also celebrate 100 years of Baras’ independence as a town after many years of incorporation and temporary division from its neighboring towns Morong and Tanay since the Spanish era."
He also said that Baras has been the oldest Josephian parish in the Southern Tagalog mainland since its foundation in 1686.
The parish, Cruz added, “has continued to be a community wherein many traditions abound, making it a unique place of prayer with celebrations in honor of St. Joseph."
CBCP News said the church in Baras is the third Josephian parish to be elevated to diocesan shrine status this year.
The Cathedral Parish of St. Joseph the Worker in Tagbilaran City and the Parish of St. Joseph in Navotas City were both declared diocesan shrines on May 1.
There are eight more shrines dedicated to St. Joseph in the Philippines namely; the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City, and the diocesan shrines in Quezon City, Las Piñas City, Balanga City, San Jose town in Batangas, Polillo town in Quezon, San Jose town in Camarines Sur, and Butuan City.