After his many struggles, he approached and appealed to the kindness of the children of Don Emeterio Barcelon to donate a part of their land situated at the highest portion of Pag-asa I Subdivision.

After the lot was turned-over to the parish, Izon requested Architect Marcelo Samaniego to draw a blueprint of the unique church with a fan-shape structure and Engineer David Consunji to prepare the specifications.

The various fund-raising campaigns organized by the Construction Committee, consisted of Vincent Araneta, Jr., Judge Lorenzo Valentin, Rafael Alba, Gregorio Orcino, former Vice-Mayor Isidoro Arenas, and Martin Candido were fully supported by the parishioners.

Furthermore, the leadership of the Parish Pastoral Council Presidents such as Cesar Villaruel, Gregorio Marcelo, Jose Tecson, Felicisimo Agas, Felipe Sineneng, and Carlo Magno became thriving.

Barefoot devotees regularly attended the procession, and, not long afterwards, large donations came from benefactors and considerable amounts were produced in fund raising projects.

Two years after the blessing of the basement, in the middle of the enormous construction project, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), then headed by Cardinal Julio Rosales, declared that the parish would become a National Shrine on June 12, 1976.

After the church was proclaimed as a national shrine, the solemn coronation of the image of Our Lady of Fatima, which was first enshrined at the GAMI Chapel, was held on March 6, 1977.

On September 4, 1982, Izon approved the creation of the World Apostolate of Fatima chapter in the parish, which received astonishing support from the parishioners as well as the lay leaders.

Since the national shrine was slowly becoming known in the country, then Tourism Minister Jose D. Aspiras declared it as a tourist site on December 3, 1982.

The rites of dedication rewarded the rigorous efforts of Izon, the lay leaders, parishioners, devotees, and benefactors in completing the construction of the church, after years of planning and fundraising.

[3] Later, with the growing devotion and love for the Marian statue, the "National Pilgrim Image" of the shrine was first granted an episcopal coronation, with the rites presided by the now former bishop of Malolos, Jose Francisco Oliveros on May 13, 2017, which coincided with the centenary of the Fátima apparitions.

On November 21, 2023, the decree authorizing the coronation was formally granted, signed by the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Arthur Roche.