Cardinal Jose Advincula has elevated the San Jose de Trozo Parish in Manila’s Sta. Cruz district to archdiocesan shrine status.

The cardinal made the decision in a decree made on Nov. 30 but the 89-year-old parish made public only on Friday, Dec. 16.

With the decree, the parish located on Masangkay Street is now officially the Archdiocesan Shrine of Saint Joseph.

“Indeed, God works in ways we cannot fathom. He makes things possible as we silently wait for him,” the parish said in a social media post.

“And now, he has given this perfect gift to our parish as we also prepare for the celebration of our 90th anniversary in March 2023,” it said.

Trozo, the Spanish name for logs, was attached to the parish to distinguish it from other parishes with the same name and patron saint.

In the early 1930’s, logging and woodcraft were prominent means of livelihood of the people living in the area.

The loggers, the archdiocese said, were grateful to God for their progress in business so they decided to build a chapel. They chose St. Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, as their patron saint to signify and put meaning and inspiration to their livelihood.

“Thus, the name San Jose de Trozo, which when paraphrased means ‘St. Joseph of the Lumberyard’ came into existence,” it added.

In 1998, the archdiocese offered the parish to the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society (LRMS) to care for the pastoral needs of the growing population of the Filipino-Chinese in the area.

Its current parish priest is Fr. Peterson Tieng, LRMS.