Catarman Cathedral

The Our Lady of the Annunciation Cathedral Parish, also known as the Catarman Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the municipality of Catarman, Northern Samar, in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady of the Annunciation, and has been the cathedral of the Diocese of Catarman since the diocese's establishment in 1974.

History


The Jesuits ordered the construction of the first church made out of wood and nipa as a visita of the parish of Palapag, under the patronage of the Nuestra Senora de la Anunciacion in 1596. The said church was subsequently reconstructed after it was burned in an uprising headed by Agustin Sumuroy in 1649. The Franciscans took over the administration of Catarman in 1768. Fray Vicente Lopez, OFM ordered the construction of the fort as a defense against the frequent raids of Moro pirates. On December 8, 1854, the church was again reconstructed after suffering heavy damage during a typhoon. The parish church of Catarman became the island's newest cathedral when it was canonically dedicated as the seat of the Diocese of Catarman on March 11, 1975.