Trivia about the San Diego de Alcala Cathedral
The Parish of San Diego de Alcala was established in 1582 in its present site and was transferred to Silangan in the island of Alabat in 1638. It was burned by Dutch invaders in 1665 and reconstructed at its present site in 1846. It is bounded at the southeast by the municipality of Lopez, at the south by the sea, and at the northeast by the municipality of Plaridel, formerly a barrio of Atimonan. The first parish priest was either Fray Diego De Oropesa or Fray Esteban Ortiz of the Franciscan order. The church, now a cathedral, located at the town proper of Gumaca, is the biggest in the province of Quezon. In 1685, the church was burned again by the Dutch.
Reconstruction of the church was begun in 1690 and was finished in 1947. The church edifice and the adjoining convento was renovated in 1846. During the big earthquake that hit Gumaca in 1937, the uppermost portion of the church belfry toppled down and was constructed and completed in 1999 and the choir loft was added later on during the time of Msgr. Jose Oliveros. Renovations continued and Msgr. Ramon C. Tiama initiated and took the responsibility of all the major repairs and constructions left behind, inside and outside the cathedral since 2002, up to the present, like the dome, the long-span roofing with the four dormer windows for ventilation and lightings, the whole ceiling, the sanctuary including the much bigger sacristy.
The firstFilipino parish priest was Fr. Antonio de Luna who was appointed in 1837.
The cathedral church is the venue for the ordinations of seminarians for the deaconate and the sacred ordination to priesthood of those deacons who are from the locality since its canonical erection in 1985. Being the seat of the diocese, the cathedral hosts all important diocesan celebrations.
The parish of San Diego de Alcala is a very progressive parish due considerably to the creative and hardworking pastors assigned to the parish since it became the cathedral.
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