The Knock Shrine in Co Mayo has been elevated to international status.
Pope Francis has upgraded the Catholic Marian shrine to an international sanctuary of special eucharistic and Marian devotion.
The shrine, visited by over 1.5 million people every year, is said to be the site of an apparition of Mary in 1879.
Fifteen people claimed to have then seen a silent apparition of Mary, Saint Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist at the south gable of Knock Parish Church.
Pope Francis said: “Ever since the apparition of 21st August 1879, when the Blessed Virgin Mary, together with Saint Joseph and Saint John the Apostle, appeared to some villagers, the Irish people, wherever they have found themselves, have expressed their faith and devotion to Our Lady of Knock.”
'Great responsibility'
The pope said the elevation of the shrine was “a great responsibility”.
“You accept to always have your arms wide open as a sign of welcome to every pilgrim who may arrive from any part of the world, asking nothing in return but only recognizing him as a brother or a sister who desires to share the same experience of fraternal prayer,” he said.
Archbishop of Tuam Michael Neary, the custodian of the Marian shrine, said the elevation of Knock was a “momentous event”.
He expressed “profound gratitude” to Pope Francis “for acceding to the request that the apparition of 1879 be confirmed” by Knock’s elevation.
Knock is an internationally recognised Marian shrine and was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1979 as part of his apostolic pilgrimage, and in 2018 by Pope Francis as part of the celebrations in Ireland for the IX World Meeting of Families.
