Catholicnews.in shares about a Marian shrine today which resided in the Philipines. The Mother of All Asia–Tower of Peace is a monument shrine. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary as a symbol of unity and peace in Asia and the whole world. It is located at the center of the eight-hectare pilgrimage site called Montemaria International Pilgrimage & Conference Center in Sitio Montemaria, Barangay Pagkilatan, Batangas City, Philippines. The world’s tallest statue of the Virgin Mary is the specialty of this shrine. The statue’s height is 98.15 m (322.0 ft) which includes the plinth/building it stands on.
A Catholic priest Fernando Suarez is the man behind the idea of the construction of a statue of the Virgin Mary and pilgrimage site at the Montemaria development in Batangas City. He belongs to the Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation (MMP).
Suarez got the idea of developing a pilgrimage site from Hermilando Mandanas, a local politician and acquaintance whom he met in 2006, where the priest could perform his faith healing work. Mandanas’ company, Abacore Capital Holdings, Inc., donated the five-hectare land in Barangay Pagkilatan where the statue and the proposed pilgrimage site would stand, which would later be called Montemaria.
Construction work for the statue began in 2014. and was completed by 2021. It is planned to be inaugurated as part of the 500th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in the Philippines but the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled such plans.
The Mother of All Asia’s hands and face were designed by sculptor Eduardo Castrillo. It is made of concrete and steel. With a height of 98.15 m (322.0 ft),[2] the Marian statue surpassed the Virgin of Peace statue in Venezuela to become the tallest statue of the Virgin Mary in the world.
The monument has occupiable floors with a floor area of around 12,000 m2 (130,000 sq ft). The St. John Paul II Shrine, a place of worship is located on the ground floor of the monument. It has a huge number of chapels and other facilities hosted in the monument. There is a reception hall and 20 Marian chapels on the third floor, a food hall on the fourth floor, two mini theaters on the fifth floor, conference rooms as well as a balcony featuring flags of the countries of Asia on the sixth floor, and a view deck situated on the 15th floor. The seventh to 10th floors host commercial and residential spaces.