THE PILGRIMAGE CHURCHES
OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF LINGAYEN-DAGUPAN FOR THE JUBILEE YEAR 2000
ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST PARISH
DAGUPAN CITY
The Augustinians had charge of the spiritual administration of this town from 1590 to 1613. Formerly known as Bagnotan, it was accepted as a vicariate by the Dominican Provincial Chapter of 1614, under the patronage of St. John the Evangelist, and assigning Father Luis Huete, as the first Dominican pastor. Up to 1643, the town was annexed to Calasiao. The town began to be called Dagupan since 1720.
An early church and a convent were burned in 1660 when Andres Malong’s men razed the town. The Rev. Pedro de Rama rebuilt the church in 1816. In 1895, the Rev. Vicente Iztegui rebuilt the façade that the earthquake of March 16, 1892, had destroyed. The construction of the old convent which is the present Archbishop’s residence was begun and completed by Father Gregorio Paz.
The church was repaired and improved by Msgr. Evaristo Soriano in 1936. This church suffered extensive structural damage during the late 1980’s to the early 1990’s. It was greatly affected by the 1990 earthquake that also devastated much of Dagupan City and Pangasinan. The church is now being restored by the present Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, Most. Rev. Oscar V. Cruz, JCD, DD.
A new and bigger church was built near the old one. It was inaugurated last 27 December 1974 with Msgr. Leon V. Bitanga, the parish priest at that time, taking charge of its construction.
EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD PARISH
LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN
The Dominican Provincial Chapter of 1614 accepted Lingayen together with its “visita” Bagnotan, under the patronage of the Three Kings, after the Augustinians ceded these missions to the Dominican Order in the preceding year. In 1616, the town was given its first pastor in the person of Father Juan Martinez and Fathers Juan de San Jacinto, Pedro Vasquez and Antonio de San Vicente as his assistants.
Records show that it was the natives of Lingayen themselves who petitioned Archbishop Miguel de Benavides while making a visit in Binmaley that the spiritual care of their town be entrusted to the Dominicans. Since 1575, the Augustinians were already in Lingayen having accompanied the military expedition under Juan Salcedo in pursuit of Limahong.
Lingayen has always been the capital of the province and had been the residence of the Alcalde Mayor. It was the first citadel that the Spaniards established in the province. Lingayen was chosen to be the Episcopal Set in 1828.
ST. DOMINIC GUZMAN PARISH
SAN CARLOS CITY
This town with its old name of Binalatongan was the first in Pangasinan to be founded by the Dominican missionaries. Its creation as a vicariate dates back to 1588 when it was placed under the patronage of St. Dominic. The first pastor of the town was Father Bernardo Navarro de Santa Catalina.
Binalatongan means “a place of mongos” . In 1770, the construction of a massive brick church began. When completed by Father Cristobal Austria in 1773, it was the biggest church in the Islands. Destroyed by the earthquake of 1796, 1789 and 1799, it was rebuilt in 1803. It measured then 89 varas long and 22 varas wide.
Binalatongan was the center of the bloody rebellion in 1763 under the leadership of Juan de la Cruz “ Palaris”, occasioned by the English invasion of the preceding year. Because of this, the King of Spain, Charles III offered the town to be demolished and transferred to a new town provided the town would not exceed 500 tributos. The condition was never met because the town’s tributos never went down below five thousand, even after Mangatarem and Urbiztondo were separated from San Carlos as independent towns.
PARISH OF OURLADY OF THE HOLY ROSARY
MANAOAG, PANGASINAN
This town, once a visita of Lingayen, owes its beginnings from the zeal of the Augustinians. Here in 1600, a chapel was erected under the patronage of Santa Monica. Five years later, due to lack of personnel and the great difficulties of the Minister of doctrine who had to go back and forth from Lingayen, the Augustinians handed the mission to Sr. Diego de Soria, then bishop of Nueva Segovia of which Pangasinan formed a part.
In 1608 the bishop turned over the mission to the Dominicans residing in Mangaldan and placed it under the patronage of our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. The Dominican Provincial Chapter of 1610 established Manaoag as an independent parish assigning the first pastor of the town, VP Tomas Gutirrez.
The church of Manaoag is a sanctuary frequented by countless people from Pangasinan and from the neighboring provinces on account of the prodigious image of the Lady of the Rosary. This beautiful and solid image was made at the expense of Capitan D. Gaspar Gamboa, a tertiary of the Dominican Order who donated it to the Dominican Province. The church was built in 1912.
