MANILA (UCAN): The declaration of the 17th century Maasin Cathedral as a national shrine symbolises the “outpouring of graces to all of us devotees to the Mahal nga Patrona [Beloved Our Lady of Assumption],” said Monsignor Oscar Cadayona, vicar-general of the Diocese of Maasin, Southern Leyte province in the central Philippines.
With its new title, the shrine will come under the rule of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines [CBCP], the monsignor said.
Known as the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of the Assumption, it will be the first national shrine in the Eastern Visayas region.
The announcement was made during the CBCP’s 128th plenary session in Cagayan De Oro City on the southern Island of Mindanao on July 6. The bishops’ conference recognised the significance of Maasin Cathedral as a “centre of devotion and pilgrimage.”
Monsignor Cadayona added, “We expect pilgrims from all over the archipelago.”
Nacional Mercado, the mayor, said the declaration turned Maasin City, the capital of Southern Leyte, into the Eastern Visayas region’s “pilgrim capital.”
Mercado said on July 7, “We are honoured and blessed that our cathedral has been awarded national shrine status.”
Aside from the Maasin Cathedral, the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy in Novaliches in Quezon City was also recognised as a national shrine by more than 70 bishops who attended the meeting.
Maasin, with over 85,000 residents, became a parish under the Jesuits in 1771. With the Franciscans taking over, the parish was dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption in 1843.
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When the church was declared a cathedral in 1968, the new Diocese of Maasin took Our Lady of the Assumption as its patroness.
