Catholics from across the country celebrated on Friday, Jan. 26 the historic and grace-filled declaration of the Antipolo Cathedral as an international shrine.
In a Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) statement, Bishop Ruperto Santos of Antipolo said that the cathedral's new status is a "gift" from the Philippine Church to the entire world.
"We pray and hope that we will be a blessing to all, we will be his channels of grace and instruments of God's goodness to others," Santos said.
He envisioned it as a "conversion, compassion, and charity" to particularly help the "vulnerable and the voiceless."
"Let them experience through us the love of God, the charity of God, the compassion of God through us," he added.
The Mass was presided over by Archbishop Charles Brown, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, with around 80 bishops nationwide attending the Vatican's declaration.
In his homily, he acknowledged the significance of the event by saying that it serves as a testament to "the internationality of Philippine Catholicism."
CBCP added that Cardinal Jose Advincula, Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, and Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Episcopal Conference, were among the church leaders present during the event.