WATCH: Quiapo Church now a National Shrine
MANILA, Philippines — The Minor Basilica of the Jesus Nazareno or the Saint John the Baptist Parish, more popularly known as the Quiapo Church, has officially been declared a National Shrine.
Manila Arcbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula was among those who officially formally revealed the Quiapo Church's new status, making it the 29th National Shrine in the Philippines.
Last year, the Quiapo Church was first declared a National Shrine during the 126th Plenary Council of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines held in Kalibo, Aklan, 36 years after the late Pope John Paul II declared the church a Minor Basilica.
The Quiapo Church is prominently known as the home of the Black Nazarene image, the miraculous dark statue that is paraded during the Traslacion every January 9 on the Feast of the Black Nazarene.
Over six million devotees were said to have attended this year's Traslacion, the first one in three years, in a procession that took almost 15 hours from the Quirino Grandstand back to Quiapo Church. — Video by Quiapo Church
