Location Lingayen, Pangasinan Rite Roman Rite Province Pangasinan Year consecrated 1587 | Affiliation Roman Catholic Architect(s) Father Miguel Aparicio Municipality Lingayen, Pangasinan Ecclesiastical or organizational status Co-cathedral | |
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Leadership Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas Founder Augustinian missionaries Similar Dagupan Cathedral, Santuario de San Juan Eva, Saint Joseph the Patriarch, Saint Dominic de Guzman, Urduja House | ||
The Parish Church of Epiphany of Our Lord, formerly Three Kings Parish Church, is a Roman Catholic church located in Lingayen, Pangasinan in the Philippines. It is the co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan.
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The church was founded in 1587, the same year as the Saint Dominic de Guzman Parish Church in San Carlos, Pangasinan.
History
The municipality of Lingayen, Pangasinan was founded by Spanish Augustinian missionaries in 1614. The parish was established in 1616 and named it Los Tres Reyes or The Three Kings. By 1740, the parish was under the care of the Dominicans until the Filipino revolt against the Spaniards took place in 1898. From 1900 to 1933, Filipino priests took charge of the parish until the Columban missionaries from Ireland came to the province. In 1939, the Columban Sisters arrived to serve in the catechetical apostolate in public schools.
The enormous church was made the seat of the newly established Diocese of Lingayen on May 19, 1928. It has gone through many stages of reconstruction especially during World War II when combined Filipino & American forces dropped bombs in the Poblacion. The bishop's palace (bishop's residence) was also damaged, causing it to be moved from Lingayen, Pangasinan to Dagupan, Pangasinan through the Papal Decree of Pope Pius XII.
The diocese of Lingayen, Pangasinan was transformed into an archdiocese on February 16, 1963, naming it Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan and the church became known as The Three Kings Co-Cathedral. The Most Reverend Mariano A. Madriaga was promoted as the first archbishop of Metropolitan See was Most Reverend Mariano A. Madriaga. In the same year, the Bishop’s Palace was reconstructed and later became Saint Columban’s College. The church reopened in 1965 and was named Parish of the Epiphany of Our Lord.
Archbishop Madriaga retired on February 7, 1973, and the Most Reverend Federico Limon took over. Five years later, in 1978, the Golden Jubilee of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan was celebrated under the incumbency of Rev. Fr. John Dennehy, parish priest at that time. The church interiors and exteriors got repainted.
The Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan was divided during the episcopacy of Archbishop Limon. On February 12, 1985, the western part of Pangasinan became part of the Diocese of Alaminos, while the eastern part became part of the Diocese of Urdaneta, both suffragans of Lingayen-Dagupan.
The Most Reverend Oscar V. Cruz succeeded Archbishop Limon upon his retirement and was installed in 1991.
During the term of the first Team Ministry, the parish adopted the name Epiphany of Our Lord Parish. The change of the centuries-old church bells dating back 1800's was done and displayed outside the cathedral. The second Team Ministry led various church renovation projects.
Architecture
It is a massive church made of adobe with an imposing Oriental Pagoda-like bell tower (supposedly an architectural influence of the town's Christianized Chinese inhabitants during the Spanish Colonial Period) earned its distinction as one of the best structures in Pangasinan. The dome was designed by Father Miguel Aparicio.