TWO more parish churches have been declared by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as “national shrines,” during the 128th CBCP Plenary Assembly being held in Cagayan de Oro City.
The two are the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption (Maasin Cathedral) in Maasin City, Southern Leyte, and the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy in Novaliches, Quezon City, according to CBCP News, the official news agency of the CBCP.
Around 30 churches have been declared national shrines by the CBCP.
“As sites of popular piety and devotion to Mary and the saints, shrines are to nourish the faith of the pilgrims with liturgical celebrations,” CBCP News said.
The decision to declare the two as national shrines was made during the first day of the three-day CBCP Plenary Assembly that is being held at the Chai Conference Center, and attended by over 70 bishops.
Under the Canon Law, a church can be called a national shrine after the conference of bishops gives its approval.
Any church or other sacred place can be declared a shrine if there are numerous members of the faithful making pilgrimage for a special reason of piety.
The Canon Law states that the means of salvation in shrines are “to be supplied more abundantly to the faithful” during the celebration of the Eucharist, of penance, and the cultivation of approved forms of popular piety.
The Maasin Cathedral, established in 1771, became a parish under Jesuit missionaries but was destroyed in 1754 during resistance battles against Spaniards.
In 1843, the Franciscan missionaries took over and had the parish reestablished and dedicated to the Our Lady of the Assumption.
The seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maasin was eventually elevated to a “diocesan shrine” in 2020.
The Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy was established in 1856, and has since become a landmark in the Novaliches district.
The church was burned during the 1896 Philippine Revolution and restored in 1928.
It was in 2008 when the parish church in Novaliches was elevated as a “diocesan shrine.”
