The International Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, commonly known as Antipolo Cathedral and alternatively known as the Immaculate Conception Parish (), is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Antipolo Antipolo, officially the City of Antipolo (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Rizal (province), Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. It enshrines a venerated

Black Madonna The term ''Black Madonna'' or ''Black Virgin'' tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin. The Jungian scholar, San Begg publ ...

image of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

under the title of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage (), and serves as the

seat A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but may also refer to concentrations of power in a wider sense (i.e " seat (legal entity)"). See disambiguation. Types of seat The ...

of the Bishop of Antipolo. The shrine attracts millions of pilgrims annually, especially during the pilgrimage season from May to July each year.

History

Early churches

The first

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

of Antipolo were the

Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...

. The first church in Antipolo was built by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

under Juan de Salazar. The Jesuits administered the church from 1591 to 1768. The church was prepared for the image of Nuestra Señora dela Paz y Buen Viaje in 1632. However, the church structure was greatly damaged during the 2nd Sangley Rebellion (1639) and the earthquakes of 1645, 1824 and 1863. The church, meant to house the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage brought by then-

Governor General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Juan Niño de Tabora, was supposed to be built on a different plot of land. The church's present location was the site of the ''tipolo'' ('' Artocarpus blancoi''), top which the image was found after mysteriously vanishing several times. The church was completed in 1632, but suffered severe damage in 1639 when the ''

Sangley Sangley (English plural: ''Sangleys''; Spanish plural: ''Sangleyes'') and Mestizo de Sangley (Sangley mestizo, ''mestisong Sangley'', ''chino mestizo'' or Chinese mestizo) are archaic terms used in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial ...

'' (Chinese) set fire to the church in a revolt. It was restored afterwards though it was damaged by the 1645 Luzon earthquake, and other earthquakes in 1824 and 1863. Nevertheless, the church became a popular pilgrimage site as many devotees paid reverence to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, including Philippine national hero and

polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is popularly considered a na ...

, who visited the shrine as a boy with his father, Francisco Mercado, on June 6, 1868. The pair went on pilgrimage to fulfill a vow Rizal's mother, Teodora Alonso, had made when she and the boy survived his delivery.

World War II

During World War II, the invading

Japanese Imperial Army The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...

used the church as their garrison and arsenal. The Virgin of Antipolo image was safekept in a nearby kitchen; it was later exhumed and moved to

Angono Angono ( or ), officially the Municipality of Angono (), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Rizal (province), Rizal, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 130,4 ...

Pasig Pasig, officially the City of Pasig (), is a highly-urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 803,159 people. It is located along the eastern border of Metro Mani ...

, and

Quiapo Quiapo may refer to: * Quiapo, Chile, a location in Arauco Province *Quiapo, Manila, a district in the Philippines ** Quiapo Church The Minor Basilica and National Shrine of Jesus Nazareno (), commonly known as Quiapo Church and canonically ...

until its transfer on October 15, 1945, to its current location in Antipolo.

Post-war reconstruction

Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1945, the church was destroyed by Allied bombardment meant to liberate the area from the Japanese imperial control. After the war, a campaign was organized to build a new church, with the fundraising committee headed by former First Lady Aurora Quezon, and Antipolo

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

Francisco Avendano. Architect José L. de Ocampo was commissioned to design the new shrine. Construction began in 1948 and was completed in 1954. On January 14, 1954, the

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (abbreviated as CBCP) is the permanent organizational assembly of the Catholic bishops of the Philippines exercising together certain pastoral offices for the Christian faithful of their terr ...

(CBCP) declared the church as the National Shrine of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, making it the first national shrine in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. The church was elevated to the status of cathedral on June 25, 1983, upon the canonical erection of the Diocese of Antipolo.

Elevation to an international shrine

Antipolo Cathedral new interior 2023-11-26

On July 26, 2021, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) endorsed a petition to elevate the cathedral as an international shrine, which was approved by the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

's Dicastery for Evangelization on June 18, 2022. The

papal decree A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at l ...

elevating the cathedral as an international shrine was received on March 13, 2023, and took effect on March 25 (coinciding with the

Feast of the Annunciation The Feast of the Annunciation () commemorates the visit of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, during which he informed her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is celebrated on 25 March; however, if 25 Marc ...

). The decree makes it the first international shrine in the Philippines and the

Southeast Asian Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia is ...

region, the eleventh in the world, and the third in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

after the St. Thomas Church Malayattoor in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and the Haemi Martyrdom Holy Ground together with the Seoul Pilgrimage Routes in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. It is also the first Marian international shrine in Asia. The solemn declaration of the shrine took place on January 26, 2024, six months behind its original plan by July 2023. In preparation for this event, a

novena A novena (from , "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost, when the ...

was held from January 17 to 25, led by the nine vicariates forane under the Diocese of Antipolo. On the day of the solemn declaration, the image of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage was first symbolically crowned by the Bishop of Antipolo, Ruperto Santos, beside

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Charles John Brown, the Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines. The coronation rites symbolized the cathedral's "new journey as an international shrine." A Mass was then held inside the shrine, presided by Archbishop Brown and

concelebrate In Christianity, concelebration (from the Latin + , 'to celebrate together') is the presiding of a number of presbyters (priests or ministers) at the celebration of the Eucharist with either a presbyter, bishop, or archbishop as the principal cel ...

d by eighty bishops comprising the CBCP, with the attendance of top government officials including First Lady Liza Marcos, wife of President

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (, , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials BBM or PBBM, is a Filipino politician who has served as the 17th president of the Philippines since 2022. He is the second child ...

. A Thanksgiving Mass (''Misa de Gracia'') was held on February 26, 2024, exactly a month after the solemn declaration, presided by the pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Salvatore "Rino" Fisichella. On the same day, the shrine received the Golden Rose from

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

, making it the first Marian church in the Philippines and

to receive it.

Gallery

Image:Antipolo Cathedral portrait.JPG,

Bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

in painted wood depicting the first arrival of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage to the Philippines Bass Relief Antipolo Cathedral.jpg, ''Krus'' by Bin Samonte File:Antipolo Cathedral dome interior (International Shrine Mass) 2023-03-25.jpg, Dome interior, and

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

windows Image:Antipolo Cathedral bishop's chair.JPG,

Cathedra A ''cathedra'' is the throne of a bishop in the early Christian basilica. When used with this meaning, it may also be called the bishop's throne. With time, the related term ''cathedral'' became synonymous with the "seat", or principa ...

of the Bishop of Antipolo File:Pipe Organ Antipolo Cathedral 2023-03-25.jpg,

Pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a Musical keyboard, keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provide ...

File:Antipolo Cathedral Old Design.jpg,

Diorama A diorama is a replica of a scene, typically a three-dimensional model either full-sized or miniature. Sometimes dioramas are enclosed in a glass showcase at a museum. Dioramas are often built by hobbyists as part of related hobbies like mili ...

showing the original

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

before its destruction by bombing in 1945. It depicts the thanksgiving pilgrimage of a young

and his father Francisco Rizal Mercado, holding lit candles, on 6 June 1868. File:Antipolo Cathedral Sanctuary 1994.jpg, The plainer sanctuary with its many

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s in 1994, before subsequent renovations.

References

External links

* * *
Diocese of Antipolo
{{Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo Buildings and structures in Antipolo Shrines to the Virgin Mary Roman Catholic churches in Rizal (province) Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Roman Catholic national shrines in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Antipolo Jubilee churches in the Philippines Catholic pilgrimage sites