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| The Santo Niño Parish Church in Tacloban City gets archdiocesan shrine status, the parish announced on October 10. PHOTO: Sto. Niño de Tacloban/Facebook |
TACLOBAN CITY — During religious rites next month, the Santo Niño Parish Church in Tacloban City will be elevated to the status of an archdiocesan shrine, according to a news release issued by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
On October 10, 2021, the parish announced that the Archbishop of Palo, John F. Du, had approved the petition to elevate the parish to archdiocesan shrine status.
"The bishop has already given his positive response, and we are just waiting for the issuance of the decree," said Fr. Kelvin Apurillo, parish priest.
The parish petitioned for the church to be designated as a pilgrimage site "for those who want to experience not only physical healing but also spiritual healing."
"We want to make our church a place where people can experience the mercy and compassion of God," said parish priest moderator Monsignor Erlito Maraya.
The parish envisions the archdiocesan shrine as a place where people can encounter "the boundless and unconditional love of God."
It is a historical landmark in Tacloban City that was built in 1596 by the Jesuits as a small chapel called Dulce Nombre de Jesus. When the Jesuits were expelled, the Augustinians from Cebu's Basilica del Santo Niño took over and renamed the chapel to Santo Niño.
The canonical establishment of the archdiocesan shrine of the Parish of Santo Niño Tacloban has been set for November 1 by the archdiocese.
"On the 15th and 16th of October, a motorcade carrying the image of the revered image of the Sto. Niño will circle the city," CBCP announced in the news release.
The image will also visit several parishes in the archdiocese, including Palo and Carigara on October 20, Abuyog and Burauen on October 21, and Palompon and Ormoc City on October 22.
An archdiocese or bishopric is an ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop in church governance. —Tacloban News Update (Source: CBCP)