Parañaque Cathedral

Formerly known as _Saint Andrew’s Parish_, the **Cathedral Parish of Saint Andrew**, also known as the _Diocesan Shrine of Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso_ and commonly known as **Parañaque Cathedral**, is one of the oldest Roman Catholic churches in the Philippines, located in the city of Parañaque in Metro Manila. Established on  by the Spanish Order of Saint Augustine, it is, at present, the seat of the _Diocese of Parañaque_, which encompasses the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Muntinlupa.

## Early History

Augustinian missionaries reached the shores of Manila Bay south of Intramuros, more than four hundred years ago at a fishing village (Tagalog: **Bacladan**), and heading further south along the shore sought to evangelize the fisherfolk natives. Elviro Jorde Perez, an Augustinian historian of the 19th century, wrote of an ancient seaside settlement named **Palanyag**  — akin to **paglayag** (meaning, to sail).

### Saint Andrew Parish

Heading inbound into the **parang** (meaning, grassland or meadow) the Augustinian missionary Fray Juan de Orto set out in 1575 to convert the natives of what afterwards became known as **Parañaque** (possibly a portmanteau of _Parang_ and _Palanyag_).

By 1580, Fray Diego de Espinal was appointed _Superior_ of the convent they built — under the patronage of St. Andrew, Patron of Fishermen.
— assisted by another Augustinian, Fray Francisco Campos, with spiritual jurisdiction reaching further south to the settlement of _Cavite El Viejo_.  On May 11, 1580, the Parañaque parish of **Saint Andrew the Apostle** was established, and on August 10, 1625, a religious devotion to the  (_Our Lady of the Good Event_), an image of the Virgin Mary enthroned, was presented.

**Our Lady of the Good Event** (Portuguese: _Nossa Senhora do Bom Sucesso_; Spanish: _Nuestra Señora del Buen Suceso_) is a Catholic Marian title. The phrase "Good Event" refers to the _Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple_. It is often mistranslated as "Our Lady of Good Success" due to the superficial similarity between the Spanish word "suceso" (meaning "event") and its sound-alike English _homograph_, "success".

During the 16th and 17th century, the inhabitants of St. Andrew Parish lived mostly along the _Parañaque River_ and Manila Bay. In 1662, when a Chinese pirate Zheng Chenggong threatened to invade Manila, the Spanish Governor General Sabiniano Manrique de Lara ordered the demolition of all stone edifices including churches and convents located outside Intramuros, the fortified colonial city of Manila. The dismantled stones were transported and reused reinforce Manila as well as to prevent its use by the enemy as defenses. More than a dozen churches and convents, which included the only one in Parañaque, were torn down. The original convent of St. Andrew was demolished. The church was rebuilt in 1950 onwards through the _Philippine War Damages Commission_.

## Declaration as a diocesan shrine

After four centuries of the Augustinians, the missionaries known as the _Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary_ came to administer the parish. Between 2009–2010, Manuel G. Gabriel, the parish priest and rector of the cathedral parish undertook major renovations of the cathedral.
On August 10, 2012, the Diocese of Parañaque sent a Decree No. 2012-005, officially declaring the _Cathedral-Parish of St. Andrew_ as a diocesan shrine. After a congratulatory greeting during Mass, Bishop Jesse Mercado through Carmelo Estores, read the declaration of the Cathedral-Parish of St. Andrew as the diocesan shrine of .

## Other websites

- Kärcher Monument Preservation
- Cathedral Parish of St. Andrew
- National Registry of Historic Sites

## Infobox (church)

- **name**: Parañaque Cathedral
- **other name**: Saint Andrew's Cathedral
- **native name lang**: es, tl
- **image**: ParañaqueCathedraljf0029_04.JPG
- **caption**: Cathedral façade in 2022
- **pushpin map**: Metro Manila#Luzon mainland#Philippines
- **map caption**: Location in Metro Manila##Location in Luzon##Location in the Philippines
- **location**: Parañaque, Metro Manila
- **country**: Philippines
- **denomination**: Catholic Church, Roman Catholic
- **religious order**: Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
- **former name**: Church of Parañaque
- **founder**: Diego de Espinal
- **dedication**: Andrew the Apostle
- **status**: Cathedral
- **functional status**: Active
- **heritage designation**: National Historical Commission of the Philippines
- **architectural type**: Church building
- **style**: Baroque
- **parish**: Parish of St. Andrew
- **diocese**: Roman Catholic Diocese of Parañaque
- **bishop**: Jesse E. Mercado
- **rector**: Fr. Augusto Pulido