Penang’s St Anne’s Church to be proclaimed as minor basilica in Jan
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — The St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam, popular among Malaysians with the annual St Anne's Feast, will be officially proclaimed a minor basilica on January 9 next year, about three years after receiving the decree from Pope Francis.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that the church on the Penang mainland was unable to hold a solemnising ceremony earlier due to the lockdowns arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, and a special mass will be held to celebrate the elevation of its status next month.
“The St Anne’s Church is the only church in Malaysia to be bestowed the honour. There are presently 25 minor basilicas in Southeast Asia — 21 are in the Philippines and four in Vietnam.
“Basilica honours are assigned by the Pope to a certain church because of their antiquity, dignity, historical importance or their significance as centres of worship,” the news portal reported this morning.
The St Anne’s Church is well-known for hosting its annual St Anne’s Feast celebration in July when more than 100,000 pilgrims, including foreigners from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Australia, converged for a 10-day feast.
The feast is celebrated by Catholics to honour Jesus Christ's grandmother, St Anne.
The report explained that during the solemnisation mass, the church will have the honour of displaying the papal symbols: the “ombrellino” (little umbrella) as well as a silk canopy with yellow and red liveries marking the papal traditional colours.
The church will also display a tintinnabulum (or bells) mounted on a pole to signify its link with the Pope. The logo of the crossed keys of St Peter will be displayed on the church’s banners, furnishings and on the seal of the minor basilica. The keys refer to the promise of Christ to Peter and symbolise the continuous relations between the Basilica and the Pope.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Penang, Reverend Datuk Seri Sebastian Francis. said his application to the Holy See to elevate the church was not because of its nearly two-century-old existence, but more for its ability to draw the crowd from all walks of life.
“The grandmother of Jesus, Saint Anne, seems to have a great appeal. It’s self-propagating, we don’t advertise it. It is by word of mouth, an oral tradition where people talk about this blessed place to others,” he reportedly said.
Francis explained that the application to elevate the church to a minor basilica is not because of its huge building or antiquity, but It is about the harmony that exudes from the great place.
“It’s not about religion, it’s about life. It’s about spirituality. It’s about blessing us,” he added.
Every July, hundreds of thousands of people flock to the church for the celebration in which they recite the rosary, attend mass, confess, and attend a candlelight procession held on the eve of the feast day.
In the days before Covid, over 250,000 people thronged the church grounds for St Anne's Feast day. The feast day is celebrated on the Sunday on or immediately after July 26.
The devotion to St Anne dates back to the 6th century. In 1378, Pope John IV authorised the observation of this special day annually.
St Anne is seen as the matriarch who oversees the happiness of the family by ensuring the well-being of children, forging lasting marriages and uniting families. After praying to her, many have reported their prayers answered and illnesses healed.
In 1846, French missionaries from the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris founded the church.
