Pope grants pontifical coronation to Manila’s Marian image

Pope Francis has granted canonical coronation to the image of the Our Lady of Loreto, enshrined in the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc, Manila.

Rector Fr. Enrico Adoviso on Sunday announced the pontifical coronation of the Marian image.

During the concluding rites of the Mass, Adoviso read the decree signed by Archbishop Arthur Cardinal Roche of the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on May 6.

The rite of the canonical coronation of the Marian image will be on Dec. 10, 2024, coinciding with the feast day of Our Lady of Loreto.

It will be presided over by papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown along with Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula.

According to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), a canonical crowning is “a pious institutional act in which the pope, through a bull, designates a crown or stellar halo to be added to a Marian image under a specific devotional title in a particular area or diocese.”

Unlike most Marian titles who is referred to an apparition or a Marian title, the story of the Our Lady of Loreto surrounds a building.

First appeared at the end of the 13th century, the Holy House of Mary is believed to have been carried by angels from Nazareth to Loreto, Italy when Crusaders were driven out of Palestine.

The veneration of Our Lady of Loreto became a symbol of the human and family dimension of Jesus and of the entire Holy Family.

In May, the image of the Our Lady of Fatima at the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Paul of the Cross in Marikina City was pontifically crowned.—Mariel Celine Serquiña/AOL, GMA Integrated News