The leader of the Roman Catholic, the world’s largest religious denominations, Pope Francis, has given the title “Minor Basilica” to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan Province. The announcement was released by the Roman Catholic church, a few months before Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines next year.
Pope Francis is scheduled to visit the pre-dominantly Roman Catholic Philippines this coming January 15 to 19, 2015. The confirmation of the title given by Pope Francis was announced to the media by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) tweeted the following message of confirmation: “Pope Francis has granted the title Minor Basilica to the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag. The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan is immensely blessed,” the archbishop tweeted.
The newly-declared Minor Basilica, the Manaoag Shrine houses the image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, which according to most Catholics, “miraculous.” The CBCP also noted that the shrine is also a parish church of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.
The Manaoag Shrine according to CBCP is an affiliate of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, Italy. The Roman Catholics believed that a “basilica” is a church that has been accorded special privileges by the Pope.
With the announcement of Pope Francis that the Manaog Shrine is a now a Minor Basilica, the church will join the ranks of other minor basilicas in the country which include Basilica de San Martin de Tours in Taal, Batangas; San Sebastian Church in Quiapo, Manila; Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu City; and Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo.