Jaro Cathedral to be declared National Marian Shrine
JARO, Iloilo City, Jan. 17, 2012—The Jaro Metropolitan Cathedral will be formally declared as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles on February 2, feast day of Our Lady of Candles or Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines declared on July 16, 2011 the elevation of the shrine of Our Lady of Candles into a national shrine. On February 21, 1981, the image of Our Lady of Candles was canonically crowned by the Blessed Pope John Paul II— the only Marian image in the Philippines that was canonically crowned by a Pope. The Marian image is venerated not just by the people of Jaro but also by the people of Western Visayas and beyond. On April 21, 1982, Blessed Pope John Paul II named Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria as Patroness of Western Visayas. Both canonical coronation and the naming of the image as Patroness are official recognitions of what has already been a fact in the spiritual life not just of the people of Panay but also of th...