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Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú

The Basílica Menor del Santo Niño de Cebú, commonly known as Santo Niño Basilica, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in 1565. The oldest Roman Catholic church in the country, it is built on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú was found during the expedition of Miguel López de Legazpi. When Pope Paul VI made the church a basilica in 1965, he declared it to be “the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines.” The present building, which was completed from 1739–1740, has been designated by the Holy See as the “Mother and Head of all Churches in the Philippines”.