The Minor Basilica of Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno, or most often called as Quiapo Church, in Manila is now recognized as a national shrine.

This comes after the bishops of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) approved Quiapo’s petition to raise its status from Archdiocesan to National Shrine.

“During their 126th plenary assembly in Kalibo town, Aklan province, the bishops approved a petition on Sunday to declare the church, located in the heart of Manila, as the country’s 29th national shrine,” CBCP said in a news release on Sunday.

It said that it was Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jose Advincula who formally bestowed the title of "National Shrine of the Black Nazarene" to Quiapo Church.

The CBCP acknowledged that the more than 400-year-old Quiapo Church, the home of the revered image of the Black Nazarene, has “served as a prominent landmark for pilgrims from all corners of the country.”

“Since the “traslacion,” or the transfer of the image from Intramuros to Quiapo in 1787, Quiapo Church has emerged as a center of devotion for Filipinos, particularly the poor and the suffering,” it added.

In May this year, CBCP conferred the status of an Archdiocesan Shrine to Quiapo Church.

St. Pope John Paul II first elevated the status of Quiapo Church into "Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene" in 1987, citing its “significant role in fostering a profound popular devotion to Jesus Christ and its cultural impact on the religious practices of Filipinos.”