The Immaculate Conception Parish in Oslob, Cebu, has received a precious gift—a brick taken from the Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome. The door has been reopened for the Jubilee Year 2025, themed “Peregrinantes in Spem” (“Pilgrims of Hope”).

The gift follows a letter from His Eminence, Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Coadjutor Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore to Fr. Jonald M. Concha, parish priest of the Immaculate Conception Parish, proposing that the newly affiliated church receive a piece of brick which was originally part of the wall used to seal the Holy Door after the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, declared by the late Pope Francis.

Notably, Pope Francis was recently buried at Santa Maria Maggiore, in accordance with his final wishes, further deepening the basilica’s spiritual significance and its connection to the universal Church.

The brick will be enshrined and displayed in Oslob during a Solemn Declaration Ceremony, details of which will be announced soon.

Photo by: Fr. Gio Abastillas, Pipoy Bonpua