The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBC) approved three Marian shrines as national shrines.
On January 25, in Sta. Rosa Laguna, the 129th plenary assembly of the bishops met for the first time.
The Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Aranzazu in San Mateo Rizal, which is part of the Diocese of Antipolo, was named a national shrine. The Archdiocese of Manila has three shrines: the EDSA Shrine, the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Loreto, and the Archdiocesan Shrine of Mary, Queen of Peace.
Historically, the shrine of Nuestra Señora de Aranzazu was founded by the Augustinian missionaries in 1596, and on August 29, 1659, the first parish was established to appoint Saint Matthew as patron, but in 1705, under the leadership of Jesuit priest, Juan Echazabal, the devotion to Our Lady of Aranzazu from Spain, who later became the new patron of the parish, started.
In June 2004, when the shrine became a diocesan shrine, and in June 2013, when the image was given by the episcopal coronation.
EDSA Shrine Rector Father Jerome Secillano is grateful to the CBCP for recognizing the national shrine for the people who witnessed the most peaceful and bloodless People Power Revolution in the country in 1986.
Spanish Franciscan priest Father Blas de la Madre de Dios founded the church of Our Lady of Loreto in Sampaloc, Manila, while worshipping Nuestra Señora de Loreto on May 1, 1613.
The wars and calamities passed, and the church was rebuilt on November 22, 1958, and was dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, where on December 5, 2002, it was made an Archdiocesan Shrine, while on March 23, 2023, the City of Manila approved Nuestra Señora de Loreto as the patron saint of Sampaloc District.
It was December 2023 when Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula gave the episcopal coronation, and on December 10, 2024, when Archbishop Charles Brown, Apostolic Nuncio led to canonical coronation in the image coinciding with the declaration of having the Special Bond of Spiritual Affinity in the Papal Basilica of Sancta Maria Majority of Rome.
In total, there are 33 national shrines in the Philippines, including the three new ones at the CBCP.
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