Antipolo Cathedral declared international shrine

MANILA, Philippines — The National Shrine of the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage in Antipolo City has been formally declared as an international shrine.

The ceremony which formally elevated the status of the Antipolo Cathedral took place on Friday.

According to the news arm of the Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines, over 80 bishops attended the ceremony proclaiming the cathedral, with Apostolic Nuncio Charles Brown presiding the mass. 

The cathedral, also the country’s first national shrine, is a popular pilgrimage site visited by many devotees of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, popularly known as Our Lady of Antipolo.

In June 2022, the Vatican declared the approval of a petition to raise the cathedral's status to an international shrine, marking the first such designation in Southeast Asia.

The Antipolo Cathedral is also the 11th international shrine globally. 

According to the Vatican decree, the cathedral officially attained its new status of being an international shrine in March 2023.

The Catholic News Agency said that international shrines include historic locations such as Rome and Jerusalem, sites of approved apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and places associated with saints.

The Catholic Church categorizes shrines into three types: Diocesan shrines, sanctioned by the local bishop; national shrines acknowledged by the bishops' conference and international shrines endorsed by the Holy See.

The task of approving the designation of international shrines and overseeing its operations is assigned to the Section of New Evangelization within the Dicastery for Evangelization in the Vatican.