Erik Tenedero

Padre Pio shrine is PH’s second international shrine 

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17805581746061780558352002.jpeg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="Lipa Archbishop Emeritus Ramon Arguelles incenses an image of Saint Padre Pio. Photo courtesy of Parish and National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio Facebook page"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Lipa Archbishop Emeritus Ramon Arguelles incenses an image of Saint Padre Pio. <em>Photo courtesy of Parish and National Shrine of Saint Padre Pio Facebook page </em></span></span></span></div><div><br/></div><p>MANILA —  The Padre Pio Shrine in Sto. Tomas, Batangas has been elevated as the country’s second international shrine.</p><p>Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) President and Lipa Archbishop Gilbert Garcera made the announcement on Thursday. </p><p>“Ang Padre Pio ay international shrine na,” Garcera said during a presybeteral ordination at the Immaculate Conception Parish in Bauan, Batangas.</p><p>“Tinanggap ko po sa papal nuncio ang letter from the Vatican na ang Padre Pio is elevated from the national shrine to international shrine.”</p><p>Garcera said that the solemn declaration of the Padre Pio church would  be held on September 23, which coincides with the death anniversary of the saint.</p><p>The CBCP said in a report that the Dicastery for Evangelization issued the decree on May 25, which was the 139th birth anniversary of Padre Pio.</p><p>In 2024, the Antipolo Cathedral was designated as an international shrine, the first for the Philippines.</p><p>The Shrine of Padre Pio was declared a national shrine in 2015, seven years after it was declared an archdiocesan shrine in 2008.</p><p>The shrine in Batangas has long attracted throngs of pilgrims, particularly from those who are seeking intercession for their healing. </p><p>Padre Pio, an Italian Capuchin friar, is globally renowned for mystical phenomena, including bearing the stigmata, the gifts of healing, and bilocation.</p><p>He was officially canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church on June 16, 2002 by Pope John Paul II, who was also later raised to the altar of the saints.</p><p>His incorrupt body was encased in a crystal tomb for veneration at the Padre Pio Basilica in San Giovanni Rotondo in the Apulia region in Italy.</p><p>The basilica, the same place where the saint lived, served, and passed away, is also a center of pilgrimage and continues to attract millions of devotees from all over the world. </p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8p1iFjAm1R0?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ep4EF6zulUU?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Padre Pio Shrine in Sto. Tomas, Batangas has been elevated as the country’s second international shrine. </p>

The Padre Pio Shrine in Sto. Tomas, Batangas has been elevated as the country’s second international shrine.