Balanga Cathedral

14°40′45″N 120°32′25″E / 14.679192°N 120.540239°E / 14.679192; 120.540239LocationBrgy. Poblacion, Balanga, BataanCountryPhilippinesDenominationRoman CatholicHistoryFormer name(s)Parish of St. Joseph (1793–November 8, 1975)
Cathedral-Parish of St. Joseph (November 8, 1975–March 19, 2015)Founded1793DedicationSaint JosephConsecratedMarch 17, 2005Past bishop(s)see Bishops sectionArchitectureFunctional statusActiveArchitectural typeChurch buildingStyleBaroqueAdministrationDivisionVicariate of Our Lady of the PillarProvinceSan FernandoMetropolisSan FernandoArchdioceseSan FernandoDioceseBalangaParishSaint JosephClergyArchbishopFlorentino G. LavariasBishop(s)VacantRectorNoel NiguidAssistant priest(s)Alwin Bobis

The Cathedral-Shrine of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary, commonly known as Balanga Cathedral, in Balanga, Bataan, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga which comprises entire of the civil province of Bataan, Philippines. Currently, Noel Niguid and Alwin Bobis serve as the cathedral priests. On March 19, 2015, the cathedral was formally declared a diocesan shrine, changing its status from cathedral-parish to cathedral-shrine.

History

During the Japanese invasion, the cathedral was used as an artillery emplacement to bombard Mt. Samat, where the Filipino-American troops made their last stand. It was later renovated by the first bishop of the diocese, Celso Guevarra, who made its patron saint, Saint Joseph.

Interior and exterior

After the war, Bishop Celso renovated the church. Its walls were white and a number of chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the largest before the altar. Behind the altar was a structure painted green with stripes of gold and a statue of Jesus in the left, Mary on the right, and Joseph holding the hand of Baby Jesus. Beside the altar, there were two statues, Lorenzo Ruiz in the left and Mary at the right. There was a group of bells lined together vertically by metal grilles, the usual bell design in almost all of the parishes in Bataan. There was a statue of Jesus of Nazareth near the main door, which was kept for rehabilitation, believed to be miraculous. People lined up and gave sampaguitas to its neck and cross; they would usually wipe its feet. Along the cathedral's aisle are the coat of arms of respective bishops of Balanga that were added during their installation dates, with the latest is the coat of arms of Bishop Ruperto Santos which was added when he was installed as bishop of the diocese on July 8, 2010 three months after being appointed on April 1.

From 1995 to 1996 during the tenure of Celso Guevarra, the cathedral's facade was changed where the bricks were added over the facade's white paint, the hole was moved higher, and a cross was added on its top.

When Bishop Socrates Villegas assumed office as third Bishop of Balanga on July 3, 2004 two months after being appointed to the position on May 3 of that year, he saw that the decorations were in bad shape; he renovated the inside with a new design. When it was finished, the white walls were replaced by a wall of bricks, the structure behind the altar became marble white, the floors were higher, the lectern bearing the coat of arms of diocese of Balanga was replaced with the one with Holy Spirit, and the chandeliers were replaced by ceiling lights. In 2008, 15 life-size images of saints with their names were added outside the cathedral representing the patron saints from the 11 towns and 1 city of Bataan where the Diocese of Balanga has jurisdiction with and a few towns have multiple saints. A few months before he became archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan on November 4, 2009, images featuring the ancestors of Jesus at the sides of a cathedral's dome and image of Jesus Christ at the dome itself were added.

During the term of Bishop Ruperto Santos, the patio and exterior area of the cathedral was improved, and numerous vendors were discouraged within its premises. The cathedra's clothing was changed from red to orange with a cross at its backrest in 2015. Pavement of the ground on the exterior was made from 2017 to 2018, the belfry added the bricks in 2019, and the side exterior walls of the cathedral were repainted.^[1] In 2020, the cathedral's roof were painted from green and white to red. Pipe organs were also added on the cathedral's choir loft. Months before Santos became Bishop of Antipolo on July 22, 2023, the cathedral's leftmost entrance was blocked with a wall but the door is still present.

Five years after the cathedral's last repainting in 2019 under, it was again repainted during sede vacante period between Bishop Ruperto Santos and his successor as Bishop of Balanga, and under the apostolic administration of Archbishop of San Fernando, Pampanga Florentino Lavarias and tenure of Fr. Noel Niguid as cathedral's rector and parish priest.

Feast of the patron saint

The feast day of Saint Joseph is celebrated twice annually in the city of Balanga, on March 19 and the pistang bayan every April 28.

Bishops and sede vacante administrators

Bishops of Balanga

No.		Name	Tenure started	Tenure ended	Length	Coat of arms
1		Celso Nogoy Guevarra	November 8, 1975	June 18, 1998 (Retired)	22 years, 7 months, 10 days (8,258 days)
2		Honesto Flores Ongtioco	June 18, 1998	August 28, 2003 (Transferred to Diocese of Cubao)	5 years, 2 months, 10 days (1,897 days)
3		Socrates Buenaventura Villegas	May 3, 2004 (Installed July 3, 2004)	November 4, 2009 (Transferred to Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan)	5 years, 6 months, 1 day (2,011 days)
4		Ruperto Cruz Santos	April 1, 2010 (Installed July 8, 2010)	July 22, 2023 (Transferred to Diocese of Antipolo)	13 years, 3 months, 21 days (4,860 days)

Sede vacante administrators (without an appointed bishop and bishop-elect period)

Name	Preceding Installed Bishop	Sede Vacante Length (without an appointed bishop)	Sede Vacante during Bishop-Elect Period Length where the diocese already have a bishop but before assuming office or installation and Succeeding Installed Bishop	Overall Sede Vacante Length (period without a bishop in office)
Antonio "Tony" S. Dumaual — died July 21, 2023 and funeral July 31, 2023	Honesto Flores Ongtioco (August 28, 2003)	8 months, 5 days (246 days) (August 28, 2003–May 3, 2004)	2 months (61 days) (May 3–July 3, 2004) (Socrates Buenaventura Villegas)	10 months, 5 days (310 days)
Victor de la Cruz Ocampo (later Bishop of Gumaca, Quezon) — died March 16, 2023 and funeral March 27, 2023	Socrates Buenaventura Villegas (November 4, 2009)	4 months, 28 days (148 days) (November 4, 2009–April 1, 2010)	3 months, 7 days (98 days) (April 1–July 8, 2010) (Ruperto Cruz Santos)	8 months, 4 days (246 days)
Florentino Galang Lavarias (Archbishop of San Fernando, Pampanga)	Ruperto Cruz Santos (July 22, 2023)	TBA	TBA	TBA

Timeline

Image gallery

• 
  Another historical marker
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  Detail of the Angels in the church facade
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  Facade of the Balanga Cathedral
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  Belfry
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  Frontage of right side entrance
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  Schedule of Masses
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  Cathedra, with the Cathedral/Bishop's Coat of arms (Ecclesiastical heraldry) above it
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  Our Lady of Lourdes
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  Dome
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  Our Lady of Perpetual Help
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  Black Nazarene
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  Confessional
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  Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Fernando - 1st Bishop Celso Nogoy Guevarra, D.D.+, Church grave
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  Church interior from the sanctuary
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  Sanctuary
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  Columbarium
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  Statue inside
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  Individual storage of cinerary urns
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  Facade of the columbarium
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  Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes
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  St. Joseph Formation Center
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  Fr. Mariano Sarili Hall
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  Parish Offices
• 
  Priests' residence

See also

• Roman Catholicism in the Philippines

References

External links

• Media related to Balanga Cathedral at Wikimedia Commons
• Balanga Cathedral on Facebook
• CBCP Diocese of Balanga
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga