Church in Gapan is first minor basilica in Nueva Ecija

This Church in Gapan City, the oldest in Nueva Ecija province at 143 years, is the national shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora. (Photo by ANSELMO ROQUE / Inquirer Central Luzon)

MANILA, Phillippines — Pope Francis has elevated the National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora in the northern city of Gapan to a “minor basilica,” making this centuries-old church the first minor basilica in the province of Nueva Ecija.

“We rejoice heartily because this special blessing was granted to us while the diocese is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its foundation,” Cabanatuan Bishop Sofronio Bancud said in a statement on Monday night.

“A minor basilica is a church that has a particular bond with the Pope and the Church of Rome and is considered as an exemplar in liturgical and pastoral action in the diocese,” he said.

The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora, canonically known as the Three Kings Parish, is the oldest church in the Diocese of Cabanatuan.

It was built on a spot cleared by Augustinian friars in 1595 and completed in 1678. The church is distinctly Byzantine in style and made from blocks of limestone and bricks.

The country now has 22 minor basilicas, with two granted the title in 2022 — Minor Basilica of Saint Dominic in San Carlos City, Pangasinan; and Minor Basilica and Archdiocesan Shrine Parish of St. Anne in Taguig City.

The celebration of the centuries-old church’s new title will be on April 26, with a Mass presided over by Archbishop Charles John Brown, apostolic nuncio to the Philippines.

It will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the canonical coronation of the image of La Virgen Divina Pastora and the 38th anniversary of the declaration of the church as a national shrine.

—DEXTER CABALZA