Pope OKs coronation of Muntinlupa church’s patroness

MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis has granted a pontifical coronation of the venerated image of Our Lady of the Abandoned in Muntinlupa City, an official said yesterday.

Our Lady of the Abandoned Shrine rector Fr. Jonathan Cadiz said they received the decree from the Vatican on July 8 that indicated the grant of canonical coronation for the church’s Marian patroness from the Dicastry on Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments.

He said residents of Muntinlupa City, especially the devotees of the Our Lady of the Abandoned, are delighted to receive the good news while the coronation rites are yet to be scheduled.

“I am looking forward to the further deepening of the people’s devotion to Our Lady and growth in charity for the least, the last and the lost in our society,” Cadiz said.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said in an article that the Our Lady of the Abandoned is a “40-inch wooden image with heads and hands of ivory (and) has been venerated in the church with the local title ‘Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados de Muntinlupa.’”