Manila Cathedral

The Manila Metropolitan Cathedral-Basilica, officially known as the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception and informally as Manila Cathedral, is a prominent Latin Rite Roman Catholic basilica located in Manila, Philippines, honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary as Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, the Principal Patroness of the Philippines.

Located in the Intramuros district of Manila, it was originally a parish church owned and governed by the diocese of Mexico in 1571, until it became a separate diocese on February 6, 1579 upon the issuance of a Papal bull by Pope Gregory XIII.

The cathedral serves both as the Prime Basilica of the Philippines and highest seat of the archbishop in the country. The cathedral was damaged and destroyed several times since the original cathedral was built in 1581. The eighth and current incarnation of the cathedral was completed in 1958.

The basilica has merited three papal endorsements and two apostolic visits from Pope Gregory XIII, Pope Paul VI and Blessed Pope John Paul II, who through the papal bull Quod Ipsum declared the cathedral a minor basilica by his own Motu Proprio on April 27, 1981.

The current-elect for the Apostolic Papal Nuncio of the Philippines is Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto. The cathedral serves as the highest seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the Philippines, while the present archpriest of the basilica-cathedral is Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, the de facto Primate of the Philippines.