Badoc Basilica

The Minor Basilica and Parish of Saint John the Baptist, also known as the Diocesan Shrine of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc—Mary, Cause of Our Joy and Badoc Basilica, is a Roman Catholic church in Badoc, in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Laoag. The basilica houses the Virgin Milagrosa statue of the Virgin Mary. It is dedicated to John the Baptist and has the title of a minor basilica since 2018. It was built in the 17th century in the Baroque style.^[1]

Badoc Basilica
Minor Basilica and Parish of Saint John the Baptist
Basílica Menor de San Juan Bautista (Spanish)
Basilica facade in 2016
Badoc Basilica Location in Luzon Show map of Luzon Badoc Basilica Location in the Philippines Show map of Philippines
17°55′41″N 120°28′30″E
Location	Badoc, Ilocos Norte
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Minor Basilica
Dedication	St. John the Baptist
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Baroque
Administration
Archdiocese	Nueva Segovia
Diocese	Laoag
Clergy
Archbishop	Mario Peralta
Bishop(s)	Renato Pine Mayugba
Priest(s)	Frederick Astudillo

History

Church NHI historical marker installed in 1980

The architect of the Badoc Basilica is Brother Antonio Estavillo, OSA, who also built the Church of St. Augustine in Paoay, which is recognized as a world heritage site. The basilica is one of the eleven Baroque Filipino-Hispanic churches in Ilocos Norte. The side walls of the single-nave church are reinforced with massive buttress walls to protect against earthquakes. To the left of the entrance to the church is a bell tower.

The church was converted into a parish church in 1714 when it was separated from the parish of St. Nicholas of Tolentino (now also a basilica) in Sinait.^[2] The parish church was elevated by Pope Francis to a minor basilica on December 16, 2018.^[3]

Virgen Milagrosa

The canonically crowned image of Our Lady of Badoc

As a Marian shrine, the church houses the statue of the miraculous Virgin Mary, the Virgen Milagrosa. The story traces the life-size statue back to Nagasaki in Japan. It is said to have been sent floating the sea in a wooden box by Christians in Japan who were operating in secret because of the persecution during the Tokugawa Bakufu, along with a miraculous statue of Christ of the Black Nazarene. It escaped the destruction of churches in Nagasaki in 1614 on the Bakufu's orders, making it one of three religious statues that survived the destruction.^[4]

The statues came ashore in 1620 at Paguetpet on the border between Sinait and Badoc..^[2] The statue of Mary came to Badoc, the statue of Christ to Sinait. The statue of the Virgin Mary was canonically crowned in May 31, 2018.^[5]

Fr. Sonny Umali de Armas of Santo Stefano al Monte Celio received from Laoag Bishop Renato Pine Mayugba and Fr. Freddie Astudillo, rector of the Minor Basilica of Badoc, a three-foot replica of the 400-year-old image of La Virgen Milagrosa de Badoc. Apo Badoc was also brought to Heilbronn, Rome, Copenhagen and finally to Milan on February 11, 2024. The Apo Badoc devotion is also observed in Santa Pudenziana and San Gabriele Arcangelo all'Acqua Traversa, Rome (2019) and in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart in Heilbronn.^[6][7]

Gallery

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  Church interior in 2013
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  Church sanctuary
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  Side walls featuring buttresses