Philippine shrine and parish to receive special bond with Basilica Sancta Maria Maggiore

The Diocesan Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception of Malabon City would be accorded by the Vatican a special bond of spiritual affinity with the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore in Rome.

This announcement was made public by Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, head of the Diocese of Kalookan, during the Mass of the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord in Manila on March 25.

“We, in the Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception, wrote a letter to the archpriest of the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore so that we will become its sister church,” the Cardinal said in Filipino. “If we get recognized to have a spiritual bond of affinity with the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore, anyone who visits here [Shrine and Parish of Immaculate Conception] is like he also went to a pilgrimage at Sancta Maria Maggiore.”

He explained that the faithful at the Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception would also receive the spiritual privileges and indulgences granted to pilgrims at the Sancta Maria Maggiore, due to the special bond of spiritual affinity.

“And that is not only during the Jubilee Year, but in perpetuity,” David said in Filipino. “Meaning, it is a lifetime bond between the Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception and the favorite church of Pope Francis.”

The Cardinal told the faithful that he recently received a letter informing him that the Shrine and Parish of the Immaculate Conception would be declared a sister church of the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore.

The church would prepare a “big Marian feast” to make public the declaration of the special bond of spiritual affinity between the two churches, David said.

David mentioned Rome has three basilicas, namely the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul, and the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, or the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore.

According to the Cardinal, the Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore is Pope Francis’ favorite church in Rome.

David reported that the Pope visited the Basilica of Sancta Maggiore after his hospital discharge on Sunday, March 23. Pope Francis visits this basilica whenever he has intense prayers.

The Basilica of Sancta Maria Maggiore is the oldest church in the Roman Catholic world dedicated to Mary, the Cardinal told the faithful.

The announcement about the special ties between the two churches was made public by the Cardinal during the installation of Fr. Mariano C. Bartolome as the new rector of the shrine.

It is not yet announced the date for the official declaration of the special bond of spiritual affinity between the two churches.