Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila said Monday that the Archdiocesan Shrine Parish of Santo Niño de Tondo’s elevation to minor basilica is a mission to serve the poor and the excluded, not merely a prestigious Church honor.
During solemn rites declaring the historic Manila shrine a minor basilica, Advincula said the honor carries a deeper mission of worship, service, and charity.
He said the designation should strengthen the parish’s commitment to becoming an open and welcoming church for society’s most vulnerable.
“The Basilica, therefore, is not a closed sanctuary, but an open home where all people, especially the poor, the forgotten, and the abandoned, can find belonging,” Advincula said in his homily.
Advincula urged Catholics in Tondo, one of Manila’s poorest and most densely populated areas, to see the Vatican recognition as pastoral responsibility.
“May this new minor Basilica in Tondo always be a church where everyone — especially the poor and the little children, whom the Lord loves very dearly — always find a welcome,” he said.
A minor basilica is a title granted to churches with special spiritual, historical or pastoral significance, strengthening ties with the Vatican.
Advincula said the shrine’s new status should renew its role as a vibrant center of Catholic faith closely connected to the universal Church.
He said basilica symbols, including the papal umbrella and ceremonial bell, must reflect the Church’s synodal mission of unity, participation, and outreach.
“It is not domination, but relationship. It is not distance, but closeness,” he said.
The Manila archbishop also cited reforms promoted under Pope Francis and continued by Pope Leo XIV, urging Catholics to become a listening Church.
Founded as one of the Philippines’ oldest centers of devotion to the Santo Niño, the Tondo basilica now joins churches worldwide with special ecclesial recognition.
