The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has elevated a diocesan shrine and parish dedicated to Saint John Paul II in Bataan into a national shrine.
Located in Hermosa, Bataan, the shrine and parish are dedicated to the late popular Pontiff who visited a refugee center in Morong, Bataan which temporarily served as home to around 400,000 Vietnamese, Laotians, and Cambodians who fled their countries during the late 1970s.
The CBCP announced the elevation of the parish into a national shrine on Sunday, Jan. 29, on the first day of their plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.
Balanga Bishop Ruperto C. Santos expressed his gratitude and happiness for Bataan’s new national shrine citing it as “the gift of the Philippine Church to the whole world.”
“We will show the world the true identity of the Filipinos who are always ready to welcome and help other people, especially migrants and the refugees,” Bishop Santos said.
The country’s 28th national shrine was originally located at the spot where St. John Paul celebrated a holy mass for the refugees. It is now the Bataan Technological Park in Morong.
To accommodate more pilgrims, the shrine was transferred to Culis, located right at the boundary between Bataan and Pampanga provinces, the CBCP said.
The parish was rededicated on Feb. 21, 2021, on the 40th anniversary of the Pope’s visit to the refugee camp during a mass that was presided over by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown.