Santo Niño de Cebu holds quincentennial

Quincentennial Cebu celebrates the 500th anniversary of the Santo Niño de Cebu’s arrival on Philippine shores. R.M. Osmeña

Papal Nuncio Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia celebrated the Holy Mass yesterday to kick off the official launching of the quincentennial celebration of the arrival of the Santo Niño in Cebu at the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.

The 500th anniversary of the arrival of the miraculous image of the Holy Child, which is said to be the oldest Catholic relic in the country along with the Magellan’s Cross, was led by the Augustinian friars of the province headed by Rev. Fr. Andres Rivera Jr., OSA, Prior Provincial.

The celebration, which carries the theme “Santo Niño, the abiding presence of the Father in our journey of Faith,” also unveiled of the official logo of the 500th anniversary which will be celebrated until 2021.

“I hope that we will be one in celebrating the quincentennial anniversary of the coming of Christianity and Santo Niño de Cebu because this is for all of us, for the Cebuanos to celebrate and to commemorate,” Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said as the Santo Niño is the patron of Cebu.

The image of the Santo Niño was said to have been brought to Cebu by Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan as a gift to the newly-baptized Cebu ruler Rajah Humabon and chief consort Hara Humamay in 1521.