The Minor Basilica of the Holy Child (Spanish: Basílica Menor del Santo Niño; Italian: Basilica Minore del Santo Bambino), commonly known as Basilica del Santo Niño, is a minor basilica in Cebu City in the Philippines that was founded in the 16th century. It is the oldest Roman Catholic church established in the country (it is the second church ever built, the then Church of St. Vitales is the first church erected), on the spot where the image of the Santo Niño de Cebú, a statue depicting the Child Jesus was found in 1565 by Spanish explorers led by Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. The image is the same statue given by Ferdinand Magellan to the wife of Rajah Humabon as a gift over forty years after Humabon's baptism to Christianity on April 14, 1521. It was found by a soldier preserved in a burnt wooden box after Legazpi razed the village of hostile natives.[1] When Pope Paul VI elevated the Church to the dignity of Basilica in 1965, he named the temple "the symbol of the birth and growth of Christianity in the Philippines."[3]
The present building, which was completed from 1739-1740, has been the sanctuary of the oldest religious image in the country ever since. A full schedule of masses from 5:00 am to 12:00 midnight are held every Friday at the basilica for devotees of the Holy Child Jesus and followers of novena.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_del_Santo_Ni%C3%B1o
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