Just days after Pope Leo XIV assumed office, the Holy See raised Marikina’s St. Paul of the Cross Church to the status of a minor basilica.

A Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News report said that the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments issued the decree on the pope’s behalf on May 13, 2025.

The decree brings to 28 the number of minor basilicas in the Philippines.

Church and Philippine history buffs would certainly be happy to note that it was another Pope Leo — Pope Leo XIII — who gifted the Philippines its first-ever minor basilica on June 24, 1890.

Pope Leo XIII swiftly declared the steel-made San Sebastian Church in Manila a minor basilica — “swiftly” because the honor was bestowed a year ahead of the church’s completion in 1891.

It would be more than 50 years before the country got minor basilica honors from the pope, according to a list by the website GCatholic.

Pope Pius XII honored the Immaculate Conception Church in Batangas City, and St. Martin of Tours mega-church in Taal, as minor basilicas in 1948.

Pope Paul VI gave the dignity of a minor basilica to the Sto. Niño de Cebu Shrine in Cebu City in 1965. It remains until today the only minor basilica in the Visayas and outside of Luzon.

The long papacy and frequent visits of Pope John Paul II dramatically increased the number of minor basilicas in the Philippines.

In a “motu propio” decree, the Polish pope honored the Manila Cathedral, the country’s first cathedral, with minor basilica status in April 1981.

Rounding up the eight minor basilicas designated by Pope John Paul II were: Our Lady of Charity in Agoo (1982), Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga (1985), the Quiapo Church in Manila (1987), St. Michael the Archangel in Tayabas (1988), San Lorenzo Ruiz Church in Binondo (1992), Our Lady of Piat in Cagayan (1997), and Immaculate Cathedral Cathedral in Malolos (1999).

No Philippine church became a minor basilica under Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis broke records by raising 15 Philippine churches to the status of minor basilica, more than all his predecessors combined.

Francis gave the title of minor basilica to: Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Manaoag (2014), Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine in Quezon City (2018), San Juan Bautista in Ilocos Norte (2018), Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church in Bataan (2019), San Pedro Bautista Church in Quezon City (2020), San Nicolas Tolentino Church in Ilocos Sur (2021), La Purisima Concepcion Church in Bulacan (2021), St. Anne Church in Taguig (2022), St. Dominic Guzman Church in Pangasinan (2022), La Virgen Divina Pastora Shrine in Nueva Ecija (2023), St. John the Baptist Church in Taytay (2024), Sta. Cruz Church in Manila (2025), and Mary Help of Christians Shrine in Parañaque (2025).

One might argue that these symbolize the Argentinian pope’s affection for the Philippines.

Minor basilica is a title given by the pope to specific churches outside of Rome that are of “particular importance for liturgical and pastoral life.”

“These may be honored by the Supreme Pontiff with the title of minor basilica, thereby signifying their particular link with the Roman Church and the Supreme Pontiff,” according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Setting minor basilicas apart from other churches are the use in the papal symbols of the bell, half-open umbrella, and the crossed keys in the church’s banners and seal. A minor basilica’s rector is also granted a privilege in vestment: black mozetta with red piping, buttons, and button holes.

Minor basilica status imposes on a church certain obligations to signify its honored connection to the Pope and the Holy See. Apart from the celebration of the sacraments, minor basilicas celebrate the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the anniversary of the dedication of the minor basilica and others.

Major basilica status is reserved by the Pope to four churches in Rome: St. John Lateran, St. Peter’s, St. Paul Outside the Walls, and St. Mary Major.

St. John Lateran, the Pope’s cathedral as bishop of Rome, is not just a major basilica. It is the only archbasilica and mother church of all Catholic churches in the world.

Who knows maybe Leo XIV would designate more minor basilicas in the Visayas and give Mindanao its first-ever minor basilica.

Meantime, visit any of our minor basilicas. They are all Jubilee churches this 2025. Pray for our people and our country.