The San Pedro Cathedral

We remember everyone who helped in making the San Pedro Cathedral what it is today. Luzon and Visayas were Christianized in the 15th century. The church reached Mindanao only in the 16th century when Spanish Jesuits landed in Zamboanga and created the first Mindanaoan Church. Christianity reached Davao in the late 16th and early 17th centuries to when Spanish Jesuits opened missions/Chapels in Cateel, Caraga, Baganga, Manay, Mati. When Uyanguren defeated Datu Bago in a battle near what is now Brokenshire Hospital, the church finally made its presence in Davao City by creating a chapel. As the years went, it grew into a church.

The History of the Spanish Jesuits and the church in Mindanao are closely linked. When the Jesuit order was suppressed in the 17th century, the Augustinian Recollects replaced them in Mindanao. The Jesuit order was reinstated 40 years later and again, the Jesuits returned to Mindanao. In 1938, the PME order led by then Fr. Clovis Thibault replaced the Jesuits. Then Bishop Antonio Mabutas took over the Davao Diocese.

In 1938, San Pedro Church had gothic (not baroque) design and was made of wood. Miraculously, it was not destroyed during the 1945 battle for liberation of Davao City. However, two big government buildings, the provincial Capital, City hall, parts of Sta. Ana, Claveria and San Pedro streets were destroyed. By the 70s, San Pedro Church had become leaky and creaky. The diocese decided to make a new San Pedro Cathedral. Again, many contributed a lot to make San Pedro Cathedral the biggest of the three Mindanao Cathedrals. I have pleasant and sad memories of the church. I was baptized and married in San Pedro Church. Sad because of the two terrorist bombings which killed many faithful.

Beneath it lies the tombs of the archbishops, Clovis Thibault, PME and Antonio Mabutas, the first and second archbishops of Davao.