Catholic Filipinos have greeted with joy the news that the Parish and National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio in Batangas is now set to become an International Shrine.
The designation of the pilgrimage site, located in Santo Tomas City, Batangas, was conferred by the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization and confirmed by Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera.
The decree conferring the status of "International Shrine" to the National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio was released last May 25, making it the second church in the Philippines to be conferred with this title after the Antipolo Cathedral.
The formal declaration will be made in a ceremony this coming September 23, coinciding with the 139th birth anniversary of Padre Pio.
The shrine was constructed in 2003 as a parish and was later elevated into the status of National Shrine in 2015.
Thousands of Catholic devotees from Calabarzon region and beyond flock to the shrine to venerate St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more popularly known among Catholics as Padre Pio.
Padre Pio was an Italian Capuchin priest who gained prominence not only due to his saintly virtues but also due to his bearing the "stigmata," or wounds in his hands and feet that were allegedly similar to those inflicted on Jesus Christ when he was crucified.
Aside from the physical hardships Padre Pio reportedly suffered due to the marks of the stigmata, he also aroused the suspicion of Church officials who repeatedly investigated his wounds and at one point barred him from performing priestly duties such as hearing Masses.
However, by the time of his death in 1968, Padre Pio had won the admiration of Catholics who believed that his stigmata brought him closer to God and flocked to him to hear their confessions.
Padre Pio was beatified in 1999 and later canonized in 2002 by Pope St. John Paul II.
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