Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 5, 2022 / 16:26 pm
In 2015, Msgr. Jose Clemente Ignacio, the rector of the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, spoke with CNA about the history and the fierce devotion behind the Black Nazarene.
“A first group of Augustinian Recollect missionaries landed in Manila in 1606 from Mexico. They brought with them a dark image of Jesus Christ kneeling on one knee and carrying a large wooden cross,” he said. “The image was first enshrined in St. John the Baptist Church at Luneta in 1606 and after two years was moved to a bigger church nearby. Over a century and a half later, in 1767, the image was transferred to Quiapo Church whose patron is also St. John the Baptist.”
“In 2006,” he added, “we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the image of Black Nazarene in Manila.”
Ignacio listed two “transfers” that the procession represents.