San Diego Pro-Cathedral | |
---|---|
Location in the Visayas | |
10°48′01″N122°58′33″E / 10.800153°N 122.975839°E | |
Location | Silay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
History | |
Former name(s) |
|
Status | Pro-cathedral |
Consecrated | 1776 |
Architecture | |
Functional status | active |
Architect(s) | Lucio Bernasconi |
Architectural type | Church building |
Style | Romanesque |
Groundbreaking | 1925 |
Completed | 1927 |
Specifications | |
Materials | concrete |
Administration | |
Diocese | Bacolod |
San Diego Pro-cathedral, formerly known as the San Diego Parish Church or the St. Didacus Parish Church before its declaration as a pro-cathedral in 1994, is an early 20th-century Roman Catholic church in Silay City, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. It is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Bacolod. It is the only pro-cathedral in the country [1] and is unique in Negros Occidental for being the only church in the province featuring a cupola or dome.
The parish of Silay was established in 1776 and its first church was built of light materials: bamboo, cogon grass and nipa palm during the time of Gobernadorcillo Alejo Severino's administration. Padre Alejo Ignacio de Molinas, a Spaniard, was its first priest. [2] In 1841, then-parish priest Fr. Eusebio Locsin initiated the construction of a more permanent structure made of stone and wood. [3] The roof was improved through the use of galvanized iron. Further improvements were done but When the revolution broke out on November 5, 1898, the church was left unfinished.
In 1925, work began on a grander structure meant to replace the old church. Don Jose R. Ledesma, a resident of Silay and a wealthy sugar baron, donated a substantial portion of the funds needed to build the new edifice. The rest of the money was raised through popular contribution, including fund-raising by schoolchildren. [4]
Don Jose Ledesma commissioned an Italian architect, Lucio Bernasconi to design the new church. Bernasconi was also responsible for the design and construction [5] of the Silay Wharf, which was razed by Imperial Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. Bernasconi took the churches in his native Italy as the model for the Silay church. The church's layout is in the shape of a Latin cross, with a cupola rising forty meters above the nave. Construction was completed in 1927, and the new church was inaugurated that same year.
The San Diego Pro-cathedral is named in honor of Didacus of Alcalá, the Franciscan saint more commonly known in the Philippines as San Diego de Alcalá. A local historian has conjectured that San Diego was given as a patron saint to the early settlement that became Silay by Fr. Diego Gomez de Covarrubias when he became the parish priest of the neighboring settlement of Bago, and Silay was his visita– a settlement he was responsible for attending to as a visiting priest. [6]
On December 25, 1994, then-Bishop of the Diocese of Bacolod, Monsignor Camilo Gregorio declared the San Diego Parish Church a pro-cathedral. At that time, the San Diego Parish Church was the second Catholic church to be declared a pro-cathedral in the Philippines, after the San Miguel Pro-cathedral in San Miguel, Manila, which served as a provisional co-cathedral for ready use when the Manila Cathedral was closed for reconstruction. Silay Pro-cathedral served the purpose of Bacolod Cathedral during times of repair. [7]
Negros Occidental, officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a province in the Philippines located in the Negros Island Region. Its capital is the city of Bacolod, of which it is geographically situated and grouped under by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but remains politically independent from the provincial government. It occupies the northwestern half of the large island of Negros, and borders Negros Oriental, which comprises the southeastern half. Known as the "Sugarbowl of the Philippines", Negros Occidental produces more than half the nation's sugar output.
Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in the Negros Island Region and the second most populous city in the entire Visayas after Cebu City.
Didacus of Alcalá, also known as Diego de San Nicolás, was a Spanish Franciscan lay brother who served among the first group of missionaries to the newly conquered Canary Islands. He died at Alcalá de Henares on 12 November 1463 and is now honoured by the Catholic Church as a saint.
The Archdiocese of Jaro is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church headquartered in Jaro, Iloilo City, Philippines. Its episcopal see is at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, also the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles, as its seat. The metropolitan archdiocese covers the provinces of Iloilo, Guimaras, Antique, and Negros Occidental. Its titular patron saint is Elizabeth of Hungary, whose feast is celebrated on November 17.
Silay, officially the City of Silay, is a 3rd class component city in the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 130,478 people.
The Negros Revolution, commemorated and popularly known as the Fifth of November or Negros Day, was a political movement that in 1898 created a government on Negros Island in the Philippines, ending Spanish control of the island and paving the way for a republican government run by the Negrense natives. The newly established Negros Republic lasted for approximately three months. American forces landed on the island unopposed on February 2, 1899, ending the island's independence. Negros was then annexed to the Philippine Islands on 20 April 1901.
Dionisio Magbuelas, Dionisio Seguela or Dionisio Papa y Barlucia, more widely known as Papa Isio, was the leader of a group of babaylanes who were, as conjectured by Modesto P. Sa-onoy, recruited from the remnants of the followers of Dios Buhawi upon the dissolution of his group under the poor leadership of Camartin de la Cruz during the years prior to the onset of the Philippine Revolution.
Modesto P. Sa-onoy is a Filipino historian and journalist specializing in the history of Negros Island in the Philippines.
St. Theresita's Academy, informally referred to by the acronym STA, is the only private, Catholic secondary school in Silay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines. Its students and alumni are called Theresians.
A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction that is not yet entitled to a proper cathedral. A pro-cathedral is distinct from a proto-cathedral, the term in the Catholic Church for a former cathedral, which typically results from moving an episcopal see to another cathedral, in the same or another city. In a broader context, the term "proto-cathedral" may refer to a church used by a bishop before the designation of a settled cathedral.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
The Diocese of Bacolod is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Negros Occidental, Philippines. A suffragan of the Archdiocese of Jaro, its jurisdiction covers most of the northwestern towns and cities of the province of Negros Occidental namely, as far as Victorias City in the north and the Municipality of Hinigaran in the south.
The Bacolod Metropolitan Area, simply known as Metro Bacolod, is the 8th-most populous and the 6th-most densely populated metropolitan area out of the 12 metropolitan areas in the Philippines. This metropolitan area as defined by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) has an estimated population of 840,170 inhabitants as of the 2020 official census by the Philippine Statistics Authority.
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Ancestral houses of the Philippines or Heritage Houses are homes owned and preserved by the same family for several generations as part of the Filipino family culture. It corresponds to long tradition by Filipino people of giving reverence for ancestors and elders. Houses could be a simple house to a mansion. The most common ones are the "Bahay na Bato". Some houses of prominent families had become points of interest or museums in their community because of its cultural, architectural or historical significance. These houses that are deemed of significant importance to the Filipino culture are declared Heritage House by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), previously known as the National Historical Institute (NHI) of the Philippines. Preservation is of utmost importance as some ancestral houses have come into danger due to business people who buy old houses in the provinces, dismantle them then sell the parts as ancestral building materials for homeowners wishing to have the ancestral ambiance on their houses. These ancestral houses provide the current generation a look back of the country's colonial past through these old houses.
The San Sebastian Cathedral is a late 19th-century Roman Catholic church in Bacolod, Negros Occidental in the Philippines. It is the seat of the Diocese of Bacolod.
The Angel Araneta Ledesma Ancestral House is one of the heritage houses in Silay City, Negros Occidental, Philippines belonging to Angel Araneta Ledesma and his wife Rizalina Javelona Lopez. Also known as Balay Verde , it is strategically located along Plaridel Street, near the Silay City Hall, the San Diego Pro-cathedral, Police Department, and the Puericulture Center.
Alfredo Abelardo "Albee" Bantug Benitez is a Filipino-American businessman, politician and former athlete serving as the mayor of Bacolod since 2022. He served three consecutive terms as the representative of Negros Occidental's 3rd district from 2010 to 2019, and was one of the richest congressmen in the Philippines.
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