STO. TOMAS CITY, Batangas — Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa said Wednesday the international status of the Padre Pio shrine brings greater responsibility to serve the sick, poor and marginalized.
“This recognition by the Holy See is both a profound blessing and a solemn responsibility,” Garcera said at a news conference before Mass marking the shrine’s elevation and the feast of St. Padre Pio.
Garcera said the designation recognizes how a local devotion has grown into a major pilgrimage site drawing Catholics from across Asia to the 17-hectare sanctuary.
Greater responsibility to serve the suffering
He said the shrine’s mission must remain centered on people facing illness, poverty and other forms of suffering, through its monthly Healing Masses and pastoral care.
Garcera also called on the shrine to become a place of peace and reconciliation amid political divisions, social anxiety and religious tensions.
“Padre Pio’s timeless message of trust in God and radical charity offers a direct antidote to contemporary despair,” he said.
The archdiocese said it is continuing a long-term master plan for the shrine, focusing on prayer, pilgrimage and service to the poor and weary.
“As an international shrine, we are called to welcome pilgrims from every corner of the world,” said Garcera, who also heads the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Vatican status gives shrine a global mission
The elevation ceremony came nearly four months after the Vatican approved the Lipa archdiocese’s petition to declare the Batangas shrine an international shrine.
The Dicastery for Evangelization issued the decree May 25, coinciding with what would have been Padre Pio’s 139th birthday.
The designation also formalizes the shrine’s spiritual bond with the Sanctuary of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, where the Capuchin friar lived and is buried.
Under the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law, international shrines are pilgrimage sites whose designation and statutes require approval from the Holy See.
Local bishops approve diocesan shrines, bishops’ conferences approve national shrines, and the Holy See approves international shrines and their statutes, including their purpose and governance.
The Vatican says shrines should provide opportunities for prayer, worship, spiritual guidance and Christian formation while promoting charity toward people in need.
The Shrine of St. Padre Pio is the Philippines’ second international shrine, after the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage or the Antipolo Cathedral received the designation in March 2023.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, then pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization, said in February 2024 that international shrines should welcome people from around the world, especially the poor.
“Being an international shrine is not just a privilege that is granted, but a mission that must be shared,” Fisichella said during Mass at the Antipolo shrine.
