The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) in Manila will be officially declared as a national shrine in Jan. 29 next year.
Quiapo Church made the announcement in a Facebook post on Thursday, Dec. 14. Details of the solemn declaration will be announced in the coming days
Quiapo Church rector Fr. Jun Sescon also received from Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines secretary general Monsignor Bernardo Pantin the official decree elevating the place of worship to a national shrine status.
The CBCP approved the petition to elevate the church as the 29th national shrine of the Philippines in its 126th Plenary Assembly in Aklan in July.
Through the episcopal declaration, Quiapo Church shall also be known as National Shrine of the Black Nazarene, along with its other titles -Minor Basilica and Archdiocesan Shrine of the Black Nazarene and its original canonical name, Saint John the Baptist Parish.
The special event will coincide with the last day of the 127th CBCP plenary assembly at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila from Jan. 27 to 29.
Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula declared the St. John the Baptist Parish with the title of Archdiocesan Shrine of the Black Nazarene in May 10 this year.
First dedicated to Saint John the Baptist in 1588, Quiapo Church was elevated as a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II through the issuance of a papal bull Qui Loco Petri on December 11, 1987.