CBCP designates two parish churches as national shrines

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has elevated the status of two parish churches to national shrines. 

In a statement, the CBCP said bishops approved the designation of the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption in Maasin City and the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy in Quezon City as national shrines during their 128th plenary assembly in Cagayan de Oro City. 

At least 70 bishops attended the first-ever assembly in Mindanao. 

Shrines are edifices where religious relics are preserved. The Catholic Church has several kinds of shrines: diocesan shrines, approved by the local bishop; archdiocesan shrines, approved by archbishops; national shrines, recognized by the bishops’ conferences; and international shrines, endorsed by the Vatican.

The CBCP said a shrine is regarded by many faithful as a “congenial center of devotion or pilgrimage.” As sites of popular piety and devotion to Mary and the saints, the CBCP also said that “shrines are to nourish the faith of the pilgrims with liturgical celebrations.”

In 1771, Maasin became a parish under Jesuit missionaries. In 1843, when the Franciscans took over, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption. 

In 1968, when the parish church became a cathedral, the new diocese also took Our Lady of the Assumption as its patroness.

In August 2018, the image received episcopal coronation in a rite led by then archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The shrine’s venerated image of Our Lady of the Assumption received episcopal coronation in a rite led by papal nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown in 2022. This will be the first national shrine in the Eastern Visayas region. 

The Novaliches shrine, meanwhile, was established by Augustinian missionaries from Spain. It is the oldest church in the diocese and was elevated to Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced in 1856.

In 2008, the church was declared a diocesan shrine, and in 2021, it was granted a special bond of spiritual affinity with the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. In the same year, the church’s image of Our Lady of Mercy was granted canonical coronation.

The church is also the first national shrine in the 19-year-old diocese.—Sundy Locus/AOL, GMA Integrated News