BRIEF HISTORY OF HOLY CROSS ACADEMY In 1946, the early missionaries of the Society of Divine Word (SVD) (Gesellscraft des Gottlichen Wortes/ Congregacion del Verbo Divino) opened the first Catholic High School and the first SVD school in this northern part of Bohol Province. The school originally named Tubigon Catholic High school and was affiliated then with the University of San Carlos in Cebu City. The SVD Missionaries got the approval and permission to operate a school from the late Msgr. Gabriel Reyes who was the Archbishop of Cebu and at the same time the administrator of the Province of Bohol. The SVD priests took turns in administering the school. Rev. Fr. Alphonse Lesage was recognized as the founder and became the first school director. Rev Fr. William Neuhoffer was his assistant. Their stint was brief because in the following year, Fr. Lesage opened the Holy Name College in Tagbilaran while Fr. Neuhoffer founded the St. Pauls Academy of Inabanga, Bohol. During its first year of operation, the SVD priests converted the old, dark Spanish convent into eight (8) classrooms. The first batch of, graduates were seventeen (17) students only. Gradual improvements followed consisting of the old stage, a basketball court, two concrete lanes linking the school to the national highway, a “quadrangle”, and additional rooms. The following were the early SVD missionaries in Tubigon, Bohol: 1946 - Rev. Fr. Alphonse Lesage Rev. Fr. William Neuhoffer 1947 – 1948 Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ketteler 1948 – 1952 Rev. Fr. John Simon 1952 – 1960 Rev. Fr. Mathias Weber 1960 – 1963 Rev. Fr. Aloysius Ketteler It was during Fr. Ketteler’s time in 1963 that the Bishop of Tagbilaran and the Provincial of the Society of Divine Word agreed to give HOLY NAME COLLEGE permanently to the SVD community while the Diocese of Tagbilaran will keep under its administration Holy Cross Academy and St. Paul’s Academy of Inabanga, Bohol. Through the years, the school population has continued to rise despite the pressure stemming from free public high schools. Truly, the school has stood by its dictum of “Scientia, Pietas, Caritas”. It will continue to serve the town of Tubigon and the Christian community through her students who are imbued with the values of charity, industry, excellence and above all love for God and faithfulness to one’s calling.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 09:23:53 +0000
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