The Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, officially known as the
Metropolitan Cathedral and Parish of Saint Vitalis and of the Immaculate
Conception (dedicated to Mary, under her title, Our Lady of the Immaculate
Conception and to Saint Vitalis of Milan), is the ecclesiastical seat of the
Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cebu in Cebu, Philippines. Cebu was established as
a diocese on August 14, 1595. It was elevated as a metropolitan archdiocese on
April 28, 1934, with the dioceses of Dumaguete, Maasin, Tagbilaran, and Talibon
as suffragans. Before being raised as a primatial church in Cebu, the church
was one of the first churches in the Philippines (besides the Basilica del
Santo Niño) dedicated to St. Vitalis and built near the fort in April 1565 by
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Fray Andrés de Urdaneta, and Fray Diego de Herrera.
Construction of the cathedral took many years due to
frequent interruptions, brought about by lack of funds and other unexpected
events. At one time, funds meant for the building of the cathedral were
diverted to the Moro wars. The death of an incumbent bishop who spearheaded the
construction/reconstruction and vacancies in the office were also factors.
The architecture of the church is typical of Spanish
colonial churches in the country, namely, squat and with thick walls to
withstand typhoons and other natural calamities. The facade features a
trefoil-shaped pediment, which is decorated with carved relieves of floral
motifs, an IHS inscription, and a pair of griffins. The Spanish Royal Coat of
Arms is emblazoned in low relief above the main entrance, reflecting perhaps
the contribution of the Spanish monarch to its construction.
During World War II, much of the cathedral was destroyed by
Allied bombings of the city. Only the belfry (built-in 1835), the façade, and
the walls remained. It was quickly rebuilt in the 1950s under the supervision
of architect Jose Ma. Zaragosa, during the incumbency of Archbishop Gabriel
Reyes.
In 1982, a mausoleum was built at the back of the sacristy
at the initiation of Archbishop Julio Cardinal Rosales. It serves as a final
resting place for the remains of Cebu's bishops and clergy. Cardinal Rosales,
who died three months after the inauguration of the mausoleum, is interred
there along with Archbishop Manuel Salvador, a coadjutor archbishop of Cebu,
Archbishop Mariano Gaviola, the archbishop of Lipa (1981 - 1993), and most
recently, Cardinal Rosales' successor, Ricardo Cardinal Vidal. The remains of
Bishop Juan Bautista Gorordo, the first Filipino, and Cebuano bishop of Cebu
are also interred there.
The cathedral was renovated for the 75th-anniversary
celebration on April 28, 2009, of the elevation of Cebu into an archdiocese. An
application is pending at the Vatican for the cathedral's elevation into a
minor basilica in honor of St. Vitalis, an early Christian martyr. His feast
day coincides with the day the image of the Sto. Niño de Cebu was founded
almost 450 years ago, as well as the anniversary of the elevation of Cebu into
an archdiocese.
Before dispatching to the Philippines, Legazpi was mandated
to build a church near the assigned fort by the Spanish crown. When the
Spaniards landed in Cebu, it was the feast of Saint Vitalis (April 28, 1565),
and they honored the saint as their patron and advocate. His feast is kept
every year, and his day is observed. On May 8, 1565, the sites for the Spanish
quarters and the church [of St. Vitalis] were chosen' and the site of the house
where the Sto. Niño was found 'as the site of the Monastery of the Name of
Jesus [now Basilica del Santo Niño] and from the said house the child Jesus was
brought to the church in solemn procession, and with great devotion, rejoicing,
and gladness of all the men. Arriving at the church, they all adored it and
placed it on the principal altar, and all vowed to observe, sanctify, and
celebrate solemnly as a feast day each year, the day on which it had been
found. Juan de Medina, before the Sto. Niño convent (circa 1603), alluded to
the days of discovery of the Sto. Niño said the tradition was continued that
the image was “taken out, and carried in procession to the cathedral, after a
paper has been signed, by decree of the justice, that it will be given back to
the same religion.
It is known that the first church is the cathedral now
because by 1598 there were two churches besides it in Cebu: San Nicolas
(founded in 1584) and the Sto. Niño convent to which the two churches would administer
the natives, while the first Cebu bishop Pedro de Agurto would cater to the
Spaniards in the St. Vitalis Church chosen as the cathedral. When Cebuana
anthropologist Astrid Sala-Boza effectively settled the controversy of the site
where the image of the Holy Child was found, she also showed the metropolitan
cathedral as the first erected church. Many times the church was destroyed and
rebuilt, even being raised as a cathedral it suffered much destruction.
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