The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (Quiapo Church) in Manila has launched a journal called Nazareno Studies during a recent gathering of Catholic scholars.

A Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines post said, the journal was made by Catholic scholars of different backgrounds during the First National Research Forum on the Black Nazarene that was held online in March 2022.

The maiden issue of Nazareno Studies carries the theme “Black Nazarene: Devotion and Discourse.” It has 17 articles with a foreword by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

The journal launching which was organized by the Quiapo Church was attended by professors from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), historian Michael Charleston “Xiao” Chua among others.

Quiapo Church Rector Fr. Rufino Sescon, Jr. credited his predecessor, Monsignor Hernando Coronel, as “the spirit behind this endeavor to further deepen the devotion to the Black Nazarene.”

The National Research Forum on the Black Nazarene will be held as a biennial event to yield further discussion on the widespread devotion to the Black Nazarene.  Scholars from different fields that explore the Black Nazarene devotion and the Quiapo phenomenon were invited to be part of the Nazareno scholars community.

Meanwhile, Fr. Sescon also announced plans to push for the elevation of Quiapo Church as a national shrine.