Only the second International Shrine in the Philippines, the Batangas sanctuary will mark its new status with a formal declaration on the saint's Sept. 23 memorial. [...]
On May 25, the Dicastery for Evangelization issued the official decree. It is the second sanctuary of the Philippines, the only Asian nation with a Catholic majority, to enjoy the international status. The feast scheduled for September 23, the day on which the Church recalls the saint of Pietralcina.