Sanctuary Parish of the Divine Child of July 20

About

Every Sunday, thousands of devotees come to the Divino Niño Sanctuary in the 20 de Julio neighborhood, south of Bogota, to adore a baby Jesus. The adoration has its origin in the 30's, thanks to the Salesian priest Juan del Rizzo. The priest had the Divino Niño de Praga reformed, removing the cross and changing its face for one inspired by one of the artisan's sons. The result was a Divino Niño, unique in the world, which generated much devotion. The patronal feast is celebrated on the first Sunday of September, while on July 20 is commemorated the name day of the neighborhood in which it is located. It all began when the Italian priest arrived in Bogota and entered a religious images shop, called Vaticano, looking for the image of a Baby Jesus of Prague. The owner of the store showed him an infant Jesus crucified; del Rizzo asked him to remove the cross and, from then on, he went on pilgrimage to different places with the relic on his back. In 1935, he was assigned to Bogotá, where he would settle in the popular neighborhood of 20 de Julio and where he would commission the construction of the parish dedicated to the Divine Infant Jesus. From then on, the priest would claim the achievement of having built the temple thanks to his devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague. Year after year, people began to attribute miracles to this image, placed on the altar of the church. For this reason, the veneration of the Child became of national interest. As the number of faithful increased, in 1937, work began on the construction of a Parish Sanctuary of the Child Jesus of July 20, which was completed in 1942 and cared for by the Salesians. Until recently, there used to be 19 masses every Sunday, with the attendance of about 35,000 parishioners; the temple has an altar and four chapels. It also has a prayer room where the image rests, guarded by a glass urn.