The other church dedicated to the Santo Niño

Monday, May 20, 2013

Just walking distance from the monumental Basilica Minore del Santo Niño is another church dedicated to the Child Jesus―the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Cathedral of the Holy Child. The location of this Aglipayan church, in a quiet street in Old Parian, is reflective of its partly obscured history. Yet, discovering it gives one an interesting take on the story of Christianity not only in Cebu but in the Philippines.

It is like a Catholic Church in many respects: the sprinkling of tequitequi-like reliefs in the façade, the raised altar, the religious icons and the carrozas they are mounted on, and so on. Unlike other Christian denominations that were created or established in the Philippines during the turbulent turn of the 19th century to the 20th, the IFI did not entirely reject Catholic symbols and traditions but retained many of them. This is owed to the fact that IFI’s first Obispo Maximo, the Ilocano, Gregorio Aglipay, was a former Catholic and so too were most of its early priests.

The beginnings of the IFI was intertwined with the Revolution of 1896, with Aglipay as the vicario general castrense of Aguinaldo’s forces. In fact, Aglipay and Aguinaldo were in Cebu in 1903 when the construction of the IFI Cathedral of the Holy Child in Mabini Street commenced. It was finished the following year. The Aglipayan church had earlier established itself in the province prominently in the town of Santa Fe in Bantayan Island and in Labangon in Cebu City. There was also an Aglipayan cemetery in Labangon where many revolutionaries who passed away in the early 1900s were buried.

Its involvement with protest and clamor for independence lingered in the first half of the 20th century.  Testament to this is the list of prominent patriots that supported the fledgling church. The “maverick” statesman, publisher and writer, Vicente Sotto, was one of them. He reputedly gave a portion of his earnings from his publication Ang Suga to make the building of the cathedral possible. Rev. Juan Quijano, the well-known writer and independence advocate, served as the cathedral’s coadjutor form 1917 to 1919. Quijano’s daughter, Gardeopatra, who eclipsed her father’s fame as an outspoken suffragette, novelist and poet also attended mass services here.

The IFI Cathedral of the Holy Child is the seat of a Diocese which administered believers in Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Masbate and Mindanao before the outbreak of World War II. Its first bishop, Rt. Rev. Jose Evangelista, served from 1904 to 1917. The virtuoso poet of the Sugbanon language, Rt. Rev. Fernando Buyser, also served as bishop of the Diocese from 1931 to 1945.

The first parish priest of the Cathedral was Diego Rivera from Ilocos who served from 1904 to 1912. Fr. Rivera’s remains were buried in the ground below the church’s altar when he died. These were later exhumed. A curious visitor to the cathedral today may have the chance to see some of his remains.

These interesting tidbits of the IFI’s Cathedral of the Holy Child and much more are waiting to be discovered during this year’s Gabii sa Kabilin on May 31, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 12 midnight.

For more information about Gabii sa Kabilin, please contact (032) 418-7234 loc. 703, or visit www.facebook.com/rafi.org.ph, or follow @rafiorgph on Twitter. To reserve your tickets, you may also visit www.rafi.org.ph/event/2013-gsk-reserve. (by Florencio Moreño II/Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.)

SOURCE:

Moreño, Florencio II (20 May 2013). The other church dedicated to the Santo Niño. Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc.  Retrieved from http://www.rafi.org.ph/news-highlights/church-dedicated-santo-nino/