The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has endorsed the declaration of the National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Santo Tomas, Batangas as an international shrine.
According to a Veritas PH post Monday, July 8, CBCP president Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David issued the statement in a press conference on the last day of the 128th CBCP plenary assembly held at the Chali Conference Center in Cagayan de Oro City.
“Once approved by Rome, it is going to be the second international shrine in the Philippines,” said Bishop David as he expressed hope for the Vatican to approve the request made by the Archdiocese of Lipa.
The bishops endorsed the petition to help strengthen devotion to the miraculous saint as well as to attract more pilgrims to the national shrine which is visited by devotees from here and abroad.
The National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio was built in 2003 and declared as an archdiocesan shrine in 2008. In 2015, the CBCP declared the church as a national shrine, the first in the province of Batangas and in the Calabarzon region. A first class relic of the Italian priest is enshrined at the church.
The Antipolo Cathedral (International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage) was formally declared as the country’s first international shrine on Jan. 26, 2024 during rites led by Papal Nuncio Archbishop Charles John Brown.