Manaoag Church now a minor basilica

Months before his visit to the Philippines, Pope Francis on Monday elevated Manaoag Church, or The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag, in Pangasinan to the status of minor basilica.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop and Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines president Socrates Villegas welcomed the move Monday evening.

"Pope Francis has granted the title Minor Basilica on the Marian Shrine of Our Lady of Manaoag! The Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan is immensely blessed!" he said.

An article on the CBCP news site said the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag is also a parish church of the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan.

It added the shrine is an affiliate of the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome.

The Catholic Education Resources Center says that a church raised to the status of a minor basilica has "unusual historical significance" or is "especially sacred because of the presence of a relic or relics."

CatholicCulture.org added the standard privileges granted to minor basilicas include:

- use of the basilican bell
- use of the basilican pavilion
- right of the canons of the basilica to wear a cappa of purple wool and ermine

Only a pope can create a minor basilica, it added.

Pope Francis' act comes three months before he is to visit the Philippines Jan. 15 to 19. — Joel Locsin/BM, GMA News