Calapan Cathedral
Santo Niño Cathedral Parish Parokyang Katedral ni Santo Niño (Filipino)
Parroquial Catedral del Santo Niño (Spanish)
Calapan Cathedral in 2019
Calapan Cathedral Location in Luzon Show map of Luzon Calapan Cathedral Location in the Philippines Show map of Philippines
13°24′53″N 121°10′49″E / 13.414722°N 121.180278°E / 13.414722; 121.180278
Location	Calapan, Oriental Mindoro
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Cathedral
Founded	1679
Dedication	Santo Niño
Dedicated	1679
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Modern
Completed	1887, 1962
Demolished	1881
Administration
Province	Directly Exempt to the Holy See
Metropolis	Lipa
Archdiocese	Lipa
Diocese	Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan
Deanery	Santo Niño
Parish	Santo Niño
Clergy
Archbishop	Gilbert Armea Garcera
Bishop(s)	Moises Magpantay Cuevas
Rector	Nestor Adalia

Calapan Cathedral (Filipino: Katedral ng Calapan; Spanish: Catedral de Calapan) also known as the Santo Niño Cathedral Parish (Filipino: Parokyang Katedral ni Santo Niño; Spanish: Parroquial Catedral del Santo Nino) is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, dedicated to the Santo Niño. It is the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan^[1] and is a marked historical structure by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.^[2]

History

The church and parish mission of Calapan was founded in 1679 by the priest Diego de la Madre de Dios, an Augustinian Recollect. Under de la Madre de Dios, the church was fortified with stone walls. Due to frequent Moro raids in the island, two watchtowers and twenty cannons were also installed in the church and its environs. In another Moro raid on October 23, 1754, Andres de Jesus y Maria, then the parish priest of Calapan, and many people taking refuge in the church, were taken as hostages and were brought to Mindanao. In August 1881, the church was burned, and was reconstructed in 1887. Revolutionists in 1898 prior to the Philippine-American War occupied the church. In 1936, the Apostolic Prefecture of Mindoro, then comprising the present-day provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro and Romblon, was carved from the territories of the dioceses of Jaro and Lipa. Towards the end of the World War II in 1945, the church this time was occupied by the Americans and was turned over the Filipinos in the same year. In 1951, the apostolic prefecture was elevated to the Apostolic Vicariate of Calapan. In 1962, the present cathedral was finished. The Calapan Vicariate subsequently lost territories to establish the Diocese of Romblon in 1974 and the Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose in Mindoro in 1983.^[1][3][4]

Gallery

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  The cathedral's side entrances and parking area
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  Close-up of breeze block-style features of the facade and the bell tower