Denomination Roman Catholic | ||
 | ||
Founded July 15, 1950 (1950-07-15) | ||
Cubao Cathedral (formal title: Immaculate Conception Cathedral), is a Roman Catholic cathedral located in Quezon City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is the see of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Cubao. It was built in 1950 by the Society of the Divine Word and belonged to the order until 1990 when the Archdiocese of Manila took over its administration. In 2003, it became the cathedral when the Diocese of Cubao was erected. The present rector of the cathedral is Rev. Fr. Ariston L. Sison, Jr., STL.
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History
Since 1935, the SVD priests of Christ the King Mission Seminary attended to the pastoral and spiritual needs of a limited farming community around Manga Road in Cubao by first celebrating Mass in a small chapel near the present Cubao roundabout. Fr. Henry Demond, SVD then celebrated Mass in the residence of a certain Carbonell family, before to a quonset mess hall on what are now Spencer and Brooklyn streets. The building was abandoned by the combined US-Philippine Commonwealth Armed Forces.
As with other agrarian communities, farmers tilling the surrounding rice paddies invoked San Isidro Labrador, so the chapel built there was dedicated to him and belonged to Sacred Heart Parish in Kamuníng. While teaching as theology professor at Christ the King Mission Seminary (and later as Prefect of Scholastics), Fr. Ambrosio Manaligod and Ronnie Ganancias consistently lent a helping hand to the pastoral work of the parish especially in the direction of lay organisations.
In 1949, the chapel was re-dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. On 15 July 1950, the community chapel was elevated into a parish, with the first curé being the Argentine Fr. Juan Simón (1950–1954); he was succeeded by the German Fr. Alois Vogel (1954-1956) and Fr. Benito Rixner (1956–1958). For years the parish remained under the administration of the Society of the Divine Word, which was easy due to the proximity of the church to the main residence of the SVD missionaries at Christ the King Mission Seminary.
In 1989, the SVD offered the parish to the Archdiocese of Manila in keeping with the missionary spirit marked out in their constitutions. Official handover took place on Easter Sunday, 1990 with Msgr. Reynaldo Celso as the first diocesan parish priest. Due to an increase in the population of Catholics in Metro Manila, the Archdiocese was gradually partitioned, with the Diocese of Cubao created on 28 August 2003. The parish was selected to be the seat of the new diocese and its bishop, and extensive renovations on the church were carried out soon after.
On December 30, 2014, GMA Network, actors Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera were married at Cubao Cathedral, where Dantes was christened. Considered one of the most expensive church weddings ever held in the country, attendees included President Benigno S. Aquino III, as well as other politicians and celebrities from the television and film industry.
Ecclesiastical territory
The Immaculate Conception Cathedral once belonged to the Archdiocese of Manila, but is now the seat of the Diocese of Cubao. It is currently remains a parish in its own right as a part of the Vicariate of the Holy Family.
Parochial bounds
The parish itself is bounded to the north by a creek running Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. and Ermín García Avenues; to the east by EDSA; to the south by Col. Bonny Serrano Avenue (Santolan Road); and to the southwest by a small portion of Ermitaño Creek, parts of Horseshoe Village, N. Domingo Street and Balete Drive.
Surrounding parishes are Sacred Heart to the north; Nativity of Our Lord and Our Lady of Perpetual Help to the east; and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to the west. To the south is San Juan City, which is under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Manila.
Parish Priests
Below is a list of parish priests, and upon the church's elevation to cathedral in 2003, rectors.
Society of the Divine Word administration
Diocesan administration
Schools
The Diocese runs the attached Immaculate Conception Cathedral School along Lantana Street.
Funerary
The Diocese also provides after-death services within the cathedral complex, namely the ICC Grottos mortuary and ICC Columbarium.
Charitable and Social Institutions
Retreat houses
Mass
Other locations
Other services
Baptism
Confirmation
Weddings
Confession
Anointing of the Sick
Devotions
Adoration Chapel hours
Religious congregations
The New Manila area is home to many religious congregations, probably due to its once remote location as a suburb of Manila. Some of them now fall under the parish jurisdiction, the rest being a part of the present-day Diocese.
Religious Men:
Religious Women: