News News Friars, News
28 January 2019

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine: a Minor Basilica

Last 14 December 2018, Solemnity of our Holy Father St. John of the Cross, Most Rev. Honesto F. Ongtioco, D. D., Bishop of Cubao, informed Fr. Joey Mabborang, OCD, Rector & Parish Priest of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Quezon City of the approval of the petition to elevate the National Shrine to the rank of Minor Basilica.  The Apostolic Nunciature in Manila received the decree of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and transmitted it to Bishop Ongtioco.  Earlier, Bishop Ongtioco encouraged the Friars to initiate the said petition.  After obtaining the approval of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in July 2018, the bishop forwarded the petition to the Holy See last August 2018.  At the plenary meeting of the CBCP in 2015, Bishop Ongtioco endorsed the petition to declare the church a National Shrine. The following year, the Apostolic Penitentiary granted a Spiritual Bond of Affinity between the National Shrine and the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. This privilege grants special indulgences to the pilgrims and visitors of the Shrine on solemnities and feasts of Our Lady.