Cabanatuan Cathedral

Cabanatuan Cathedral
Cabanatuan Cathedral
Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish Cathedral
Parokyang Katedral ni San Nikolas ng Tolentino (Filipino); Parroquia Catedral de San Nicolás de Tolentino (Spanish); Katedral ng Cabanatuan (Filipino);
	The newly renovated cathedral facade in 2023
	Cabanatuan Cathedral Location in Nueva Ecija Cabanatuan Cathedral Location in Luzon Cabanatuan Cathedral Location in the Philippines
	15°29′21″N 120°57′51″E / 15.4892°N 120.9643°E
Location	Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Website	www.facebook.com/CabanatuanCathedral; youtube.com/@CABANATUANCATHEDRAL;
History
Status	Cathedral
Founded	1700
Dedication	Saint Nicholas of Tolentino
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Neoclassical (2019)
Completed	1866, 1891, 1975
Demolished	1880, 1934, 1972
Administration
Archdiocese	Lingayen-Dagupan
Diocese	Cabanatuan
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Sofronio Aguirre Bancud
Vicar(s)	Joseph P. Mañalac, PACEM; Alfonso S. Saulo;
Priest(s)	Reynold H. Oliveros, J.C.D

Saint Nicholas of Tolentine Parish Cathedral, commonly known as Cabanatuan Cathedral, is the ecclesiastical seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabanatuan in the Philippines. It is located at Del Pilar Street, Barangay General Luna, in downtown Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija province.^[1]

The cathedral and the Plaza Lucero at its front, is nationally and historically known as the death place of Filipino general Antonio Luna.^[2]^[3]

History

After the parishes of Gapan in 1595 and Santor in 1636, the Augustinian priests founded the Cabanatuan church in 1700 as a visita of Gapan. By 1732, it only had 700 parishioners. The parish administration was transferred to secular priests in 1866, and in the same year, the first stone church and convent buildings were constructed under the leadership of Jose de la Fuente. The said buildings were destroyed by the earthquake of July 18, 1880 and were reconstructed under the helm of Mariano Rivas in 1891.^[4]

During the Philippine–American War, the cathedral's convent, shortly served as the seat of the capital of the Philippines^[5] where Antonio Luna and his aide-de-camp, Francisco Román, were killed by the members of the Kawit Battalion on June 5, 1899.^[1]^[6] In 1934, the church was razed by fire wherein only its lateral walls were spared. Nine years after the canonical foundation of the Diocese of Cabanatuan, the cathedral, and its adjacent former College of the Immaculate Conception building, was charred again on September 28, 1972. Three years later, on November 22, 1975, the church reconstruction was finished under Pacifico Araullo. It was dedicated by then Cabanatuan Bishop Vicente Reyes and then Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines, Bruno Torpigliani.^[4]