Tuguegarao’s century-old Cathedral to be restored November 13, 2013 8:43 pm by LEANDER C. DOMINGO TUGUEGARAO CITY: To restore the 246-year-old Catholic church here, parishioners began raising the needed P25-million fund to bring the structure back to its original form. Monsignor Gerard Ariston Perez, the city’s parish priest, said the cathedral was built from 1761 to 1767 or during the Spanish colonial period. ”This is one of the biggest and oldest churches in northern Luzon which was originally made of bricks,” the Monsignor Perez said. Monsignor Perez said the cathedral’s original roof was also destroyed during the second World War. Also known as Saint Peter Metropolitan Cathedral, the Tuguegarao Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao having an eccle-siastical jurisdiction over the civil province of Cagayan. “Through the help of our parishioners and devotees, we will be able to restore the cathedral in its original form using bricks in its body and the ceiling with paintings including original forms of its surroundings,” Monsignor Perez explained. Among the activities planned for the fund raising are charity run solicitations, selling of souvenir items, concerts, raffle draw tickets, tournament and exhibition games. “We are also working on the spiritual restoration of the people to bring them back to their [faith in God] which is the most important thing above all the efforts that we are doing,” Monsignor Perez said. The restoration of the church is expected to be completed in April next year.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 21:34:23 +0000