The Minor Basilica of our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary finds its origins and roots with the desire to evangelize the Chinese who were in the Philippines during the Spanish period. The Church observed that there were waves of influx of Chinese traders (sangleys, from the Chinese terms “chang lai” which means “frequent coming”) who frequent themselves to the Philippines through their sampans. The Church in Binondo was established in 1596 for the Chinese Apostolate for the evangelization and conversion of the Chinese in the Philippines. The Church was dedicated to St. Gabriel, the Archangel until the 19th century and was later named as the Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary having Mary as the patroness of the people of Binondo.

The presence of the place and the Church during the Spanish period was due to the Governor General Luis Perez Dasmarinas who gave it as a gift to the “sangleys” who were converted to Catholicism in the Parian or Baybay in Tondo. This was the place also where Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino-Chinese Martyr learned and served the parish as a “escribano.” He became a martyr in Nagasaki, Japan on September 29, 1637.

When World War II ended in 1945, the Church was in ruins. Upon the request of Fr. Antonio Garcia, O.P. who was the parish priest of the Chinese Catholic in Manila that time, for a newly established Church, he was granted by Archbishop O’Doherty to have a 700-meter piece of land for a rectory and a place for the Chinese to gather and celebrate the sacraments.

Today, the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary sits as a very important icon of the evangelization of the Filipino-Chinese in the Philippines. It started to enjoy its title as “Minor Basilica” when John Paul II valued its historical antecedents and the mission it carries for the Filipino-Chinese Apostolate. Besides, with its historical richness it has produced a saint that will make the local church in the Philippines value the Catholic faith which was brought by the missionaries of the 16th century. The Church now is being served by the members of the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Society. Msgr. Esteban Lo, LRMS and Fr. Junerl Salugsugan, LRMS are the first members of the Society to serve in the minor basilica. Msgr. Lo was installed as parish priest on December 17, 2022.