The solemn declaration of the Parish Church of St. Nicholas of Tolentino Shrine of Señor Sto. Cristo Milagroso in Sinait, Ilocos Sur as a minor basilica will be held on Feb. 16.
CBCP News said it will be the first minor basilica in the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia and the second in the Ilocos region.
The Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia said Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles Brown will preside over the Eucharistic Celebration in the said church with Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula as homilist.
It was May 2020 when Nueva Segovia Archbishop Marlo Peralta
announced Pope Francis' elevation of the 16th century church to the rank of minor basilica.
The designation is granted to churches around the world in recognition of their special pastoral and liturgical significance in Catholic life, and their closeness to the pope.
The request for minor basilica status was presented to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in 2020 by the parish.
Built in 1574 by the Augustinian missionaries and completed in 1598, the church is considered as one of the oldest religious edifices in the country.
The shrine is also home to a 400-year-old life-size image of the crucified Christ that generated a tremendous devotion among the faithful in the Ilocandia and as far as Cagayan province.
The image was found in 1620 in the shores of Dadalaquiten, the boundary between the towns of Sinait and Badoc in Ilocos Norte.
Along with the black crucified Christ was a Marian statue, contained in a crate floating along the shore where local fishermen were casting their nets.
It is believed that the images were drifted ashore by the persecuted Christians in Japan to avoid iconoclasm and persecution.
The crucifix was brought to Sinait, while the Marian statue was brought to the Badoc Church, which was declared a minor basilica in 2019.