St. John the Evangelist Cathedral Claimed

About

The 1614 Metropolitan Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist also known as the Metropolitan (Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines) Cathedral of Dagupan City (Burgos St., Dagupan, 2400 Pangasinan) is the Episcopal Seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan, Philippines (Suffragan of Lingayen – Dagupan, which was created on January 19, 1970 and canonically erected on April 11, 1970). The Church is under a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines from the Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia.

It belongs to the Vicariate I: Vicariate of Saints Peter and Paul (Queen of Apostles) (with Catholic population of 87,093, Feast day of December 27, Team Moderator, Chancellor and Vicar General: Msgr. Rafael S. Magno, Jr., PC, JCD., assisted by, Member: Rev. Fr. Alvin P. Platon and Parochial Vicar, Rev. Fr. Jim S. Cerezo and Guest Priest, in charge of the Hospitals, Rev. Roberto Mejia). Its titular head is Socrates B. Villegas, DD,. It is bounded by nearby cities of San Carlos, Alaminos and Tarlac.

The Old Dagupan Cathedral Church is named in honor of Saint John the Evangelist (יוחנן Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew Yôḥānān meaning “Yahweh is gracious”, Greek: Εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης) (c. AD 1 – c. 100), the conventional name for the author of the Gospel of John. Traditionally he has been identified with the author of the other Johannine works in the New Testament—the three Epistles of John and the Book of Revelation, written by a John of Patmos—as well as with John the Apostle and the Beloved Disciple mentioned in the Gospel of John. However, at least some of these connections have been debated since about 200.

History

The Augustinians ruled the town and Parish from 1590 to 1613. Dagupan as Bagnotan was Dominican Provincial Chapter Vicariate of 1614, with Patron, St. John the Evangelist, and Kura Paroko, Father Kuis Huete. Until 1643, Dagupan was part of Calasiao, Pangasinan until its independence on 1720.

Andres Malong burned the church and convent in 1660 and rebuilt by Rev. Pedro de Rama in 1816. In 1895, Rev. Vicente Iztegui rebuilt the façade damaged by the March 16, 1892 quake. Padre Gregorio Paz constructed the Convento, the Bishop’s residence. In 1891, St. Albert the Great College was founded but destroyed by the 1936 floods. Msgr. Evaristo Soriano in 1936 renovated the Church.

During the 1898 Katipunan revolution, the Spanish authorities of Pangasinan abandoned Lingayen and moved to Dagupan, where the provincial government was housed at the Dagupan Convento. Nuestra Señor del Rosario, Our Lady of Manaoag was brought to the Dagupan Convento.

The construction of the new Cathedral begun under Archbishop Mariano Madriaga, DD, and was eventually finished under Msgr. Federico Limon, SVD, DD. It was consecrated on 27 December 1974.

Vicar General and Chancellor of the Archdiocese, Msgr. Rafael S. Magno, Jr., stated that Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nueva Segovia covers all Pangasinan parishes (whole of northern Luzon). On May 19, 1928, the Diocese of Lingayen (Pangasinan and 11 Tarlac, 10 Nueva Ecija, and 3 Zambales towns) was decreed under Most Rev. Cesar Maria Guerrero, who was succeeded by Archbishop Mariano Madriaga.

On May 11, 1954, Dagupan became the seat of the Lingayen-Dagupan Archdiocese. On February 16, 1963, Pope Paul VI decreed the formal reconstitution of the Diocese of Lingayen into an Archdiocese covering all of Pangasinan but severing Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, while the diocese of La Union was created and separated from Nueva Segovia becoming another suffragan of Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan from 1970.

On 31 May 1964, the Cathedral’s cornerstone was laid by Archbishop Mariano A. Madriaga, DD, with Msgr. Evaristo Soriano, a the parish priest. The church was built at the rear side of the old cathedral facing corner Burgos and Calimlim Streets. From 1966-1969, Msgr. Evarito Soriano started the rehabilitations, and the Church was finished in 1972 by Msgr. Federico G. Limon, DD. On 26–27 December 1974, St. John the Evangelist Church was inaugurated.

On January 12, 1985, Western Pangasinan became Diocese of Alaminos, and the eastern part, as Roman Catholic Diocese of Urdaneta, for both became suffragans of Lingayen-Dagupan along with Diocese of Cabanatuan, San Jose (Nueva Ecija) and San Fernando, La Union.

Msgr. Oscar V. Cruz, DD, succeeded Msgr. Federico Limon, SVD, DD, in 1991 as Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, and renovated the destroyed church (by the 1990 Killer Quake). From 1992, the restoration and renovation was finished and on 10 February 2001, the “Re-Dedication of the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist” was presided by Msgr. Oscar V Cruz, DD.

Formal dedication and transfer

By the November 1, 2010 Act of Socrates B. Villegas, DD, and the February 15, 2012 Decree, Cardinal Francesco Monterisi granted the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist the title “special bond of spiritual affinity” with the Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, on the eve of the 49th anniversary of Lingayen-Dagupan as Metropolitan See. It is the second church in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan to be granted the title. There are only 4 major basilicas worldwide – Saint Peter, Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Saint John Lateran and Saint Mary Major. All others are minor basilicas.

The Apostolic Penitentiary through the Major Penitentiary His Excellency Most Reverend Manuel Monteiro de Castro also granted all pilgrims of the Metropolitan Cathedral, Papal Blessings and plenary Indulgence.

Msgr. Oliver Mendoza, Rector of the New Mary Help of Christian Theology Seminary explained why the Dagupan Cathedral has 2 horizontal bars in its Cross: “xxx it symbolizes that the church has been elevated into a higher level in the hierarchy of Catholicism, from a mere parish church to a cathedral (unlike before Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz’s term-retirement).”

Its 1974 consecration as Cathedral of the Metropolitan See of Lingayen-Dagupan by then Papal Nuncio Bruno Torpigliani (6 Jun 1973 Appointed – Apr 1990 Retired)† Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines had not been recognized by the Vatican City.

The Old (Zamora St.) Dagupan Church, “Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista” was destroyed in the July 16, 1990, killer earthquake and has since been renovated. Inside the Sanctuario, the Spanish forces holed up and fought but failed against the Katipunero forces of General Francisco Macabulos in the Battle of Dagupan. From July 19 to 28, 1898, Generals Servillano Aquino and Francisco Macabulos liberated Tarlac from Spanish rule. They came to Dagupan to assist the Pangasinan Katipuneros.

On October, 2012, the Golden Jubilee of Lingayen Dagupan as a Metropolitan Archdiocese, was declared opened with the establishment of the Association of Religious Men and Women in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan or ARMWALD.

Father Francisco Vargas, CM, parish priest of the Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Parish in David, Mangaldan, Pangasinan was appointed Episcopal Vicar for Religious.

On December 27, 2010, the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, the Most Reverend Edward Joseph Adams (since 24 August 1996), Philippine Papal nuncio led the historic transfer of the Lingayen-Dagupan Metropolitan Cathedral from Zamora street to nearby Burgos street, presided by Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas after Pope Benedict XVI’s approval of the Petition to name the St John church on Burgos street as the Metropolitan Cathedral, the former was named “Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista”, an Archdiocesan Shrine. 76 priests from 30 various parishes 3 suffragan dioceses con-celebrated the Solemn Jubilee Mass amid the opening of the great Dagupan Cathedral Jubilee Door.

Inside the old Sanctuario de San Juan Evangelista of Dagupan, Leonor Rivera Kipping, Dr. Jose Rizal’s lost love, married Henry Kipping, a British engineer who set up the Dagupan railway station.