Quiapo Church

Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (St. John the Baptist Parish)
The façade of Quiapo Church from Plaza Miranda.
Basic information
Location	Quiapo, Manila, Philippines
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Year consecrated	(as Minor Basilica) February 1, 1988
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Archdiocese of Manila
Heritage designation	Saint John the Baptist Black Nazarene
Leadership	Monsignori
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Mexican Baroque
Length	1

The Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (canonically known as Saint John the Baptist Parish and colloquially known as Quiapo Church) is a prominent Roman Catholic Latin-rite basilica located in the District of Quiapo in the City of Manila, Philippines. The basilica is famous home for the shrine of the Black Nazarene, a dark statue of Jesus Christ many faithfully claim to be miraculous. The parish is under the Archdiocese of Manila and its current rector is Rev. Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio.

History

On 29 August 1586, Governor-General Santiago de Vera founded the District of Quiapo as a suburb of Spanish Manila. The Franciscan Missionaries built the first church on the site, using bamboo for the frame and nipa palm as thatching. Saint Pedro Bautista, a Franciscan missionary and martyr, was one of the founders of the Quiapo Church and several other churches in what is now Metro Manila and Laguna. The original church burned down in 1639 and was replaced by a stronger edifice, which was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1863.

Under the supervision of Rev. Eusebio de León and Rev. Manuel Roxas, the third church was completed in 1899. Roxas had raised the unprecedented amount of ₱40,000.00 from donations and lay contributions. On 30 October 1928, the church again caught fire and was almost completely destroyed. Doña Encarnación Nakpíl de Orense, then the head of the Parish Committee, raised funds for the reconstruction. Filipino National Artist, architect Juan Nakpil (the son of composer Julio Nakpil) added the dome and a second belfry to the edifice.

Murder incident

On 13 December 1975, Manila Auxiliary Bishop, the Most Rev. Hernando Antiporda, was murdered along with his assistant parish priest, Rev. Raymundo Costales. The culprits strangled the bishop with a cord, while they stabbed Costales in the neck with a broken bottle; a suspected motive was robbery.

Expansion and Recognition as Minor Basilica

Msgr. Jose Abriol appointed Filipino architect Jose Ma. Zaragoza and Engineer Eduardo Santiago to expand the church in 1984, to accommodate more devotees. Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila, reconsecrated the church on 28 September 1987, and the following year the church was declared a Minor Basilica. Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Most Rev. Bruno Torpigliani, blessed the altar of Saint Lorenzo Ruíz on 1 February 1988.

Devotion to the Black Nazarene

Quiapo Church holds a novena every Friday in honour of the Black Nazarene, and is attended by thousands of devotees. The Feast of the Black Nazarene on 9 January celebrates the traslación (solemn translation) of the statue to the church from the Church of Saint Nicholas Tolentino. Daily hourly masses are celebrated and devotees come from all walks of life.

Abortifacients sold by private vendors

The vicinity of the church is a popular area for peddlers of unsafe abortifacients, local gastric irritants and untested herbal folk (potions) remedies. The merchandise are anonymously sold from stalls surrounding the Basilica and the Plaza Miranda fronting it. Abortion is illegal in the Philippines, and individuals who cannot afford the surgical procedure resort to these vendors.^[1]

The media often covers stories of dead foetuses being abandoned outside of the church's Blessed Sacrament chapel, a practise condemned by the Archdiocese of Manila.^[2][3] Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales has issued several canonical excommunications for women who perform intentional abortion in relation to such practices near the shrine, as ruled by the Latae Sententiae punishment by the Roman Catholic Church.^[4] The fetuses covered by the Filipino TV media are often left anonymously wrapped in sack-cloth or plain boxes.

Ecclesiastical leadership

Rev. Msgr. Jose Clemente F. Ignacio is the current Rector of the shrine and was former Episcopal Vicar, Chancellor and Treasurer of the Archdiocese of Manila. He is assisted by several Parochial Vicars: Rev. Fernando F. Carpio, Rev. Franklin M. Villanueva, Rev. Venusto F. Suarez and Rev. Ricardo F. Valencia, Jr..

List of Parish Priests-Rectors

Schedule of Services

Masses:

• Monday to Thursday: 5:00 am to 10:00 am (Every Hour); 12:15 pm, 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm
• Friday: 4:00 am to 12:15 pm (Every Hour); 3:00 pm (Holy Hour); 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm (every hour)
• Saturday: 5:00 am to 10:00 am (Every Hour); 12:15 pm; 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm (Every Hour)
• Sunday: 5:00 am to 12:15 pm (Every Hour); 3:00 pm- Children's Mass (Misa Pro-Populo); 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm (Every Hour)

Confessions:

• Monday to Saturday: 6:00 am to 9:00 pm

Mass and Healing Services

• Thursdays before First Friday of the Month: 6:00 pm

Evening Prayers and Holy Hours

• Sunday - 7:00 pm (Mass, Vespers, Holy Hour)
• Friday - 8:00 pm (Mass, Vespers, Holy Hour)

Anointing of the Sick

• In normal cases, to be scheduled
• In extreme cases, any time

Schedule of Baptism

• Sunday - 9:00 am to 11:00 am
• Registration - Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 11:30 am, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Schedule of Confirmation

• Sunday - 8:00 am to 12:00 nn
• Registration - 8:00 am to 11:30 am, 1:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Schedule of Live Streaming (via www.quiapochurch.com)

• Daily Mass: 12:15 pm
• Friday Mass: 4:00 am to 12:15 pm (Every Hour); 3:00 pm (Holy Hour); 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm (every hour) 9:00 pm (Benediction)
• Saturday Mass: 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm (Every Hour)
• Sunday Mass: 5:00 am to 12:15 pm (Every Hour); 3:00 pm (Children's Mass & Pro-Populo); 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm (Every Hour)

Office Hours

• Monday to Thursday, Saturday & Sunday - 8:00 am to 12:00 nn, 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm
• Friday - 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

Social Services

• Crisis Intervention Program: Tuesday to Friday - 8:00 am to 11:00 am
• Crisis Intervention Program (Special Case): Daily - 8:00 am to 3:00 pm
• Legal Assistance: Tuesday to Thursday - 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, Friday - 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
• Counselling: Daily - 8:00 am to 5:00 pm

Gallery

• 

  Façade of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene (11 January 2012).

• 

  The choir loft and the narthex.

• 

  High Altar of the church, with the Black Nazarene enshrined above it.

• 

  Tabernacle Altar on the gospel (left) side of the church.

See also

• Black Nazarene

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene.

• Ramos, NRJ (2006-04-13). "Houses of the Holy". Manila Standard Today. Retrieved 2007-05-30. 
• Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene
• History of Quiapo
• Veneration of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo
• http://www.manilacathedral.org
• http://www.quiapochurch.dragweb.net/history.php

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Coordinates: 14°35′56″N 120°59′02″E / 14.59878°N 120.98377°E / 14.59878; 120.98377