Saint Joseph Cathedral (Nueva Ecija)

Saint Joseph Cathedral
Saint Joseph Cathedral
Saint Joseph the Worker Cathedral
Parokyang Katedral ni San Jose Manggagawa (Filipino); Catedral Parroquia de San José Obrero (Spanish); Katedral ni San Jose (Filipino);
	Cathedral facade in 2013
	Saint Joseph Cathedral Location in Nueva Ecija Saint Joseph Cathedral Location in Luzon Saint Joseph Cathedral Location in the Philippines
	15°47′32″N 120°59′22″E / 15.792167°N 120.989528°E
Location	San Jose, Nueva Ecija
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Status	Cathedral
Founded	1910
Dedication	Saint Joseph the Worker
Consecrated	1984, 2006
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Baroque Revival
Administration
Archdiocese	Lingayen–Dagupan
Diocese	San Jose, Nueva Ecija
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Roberto Calara Mallari
Priest(s)	Rev. Fr. Getty A. Ferrer, J.C.D.
Assistant priest(s)	Rev. Fr. Vic Kevin O. Ferrer Rev. Fr. Cayetano Nidoy, Jr. Rev. Fr. Anthony Paul Bicomong

Saint Joseph the Worker Cathedral, commonly known as Saint Joseph Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral located at Barangay Rafael Rueda, Sr. Poblacion in the city of San Jose, Nueva Ecija, Philippines. It is the seat of the Diocese of San Jose, Nueva Ecija and is dedicated to Saint Joseph the Worker.^[1]

History

The first missionaries in what is now the province of Nueva Ecija were the Augustinians who also founded the parishes of Carranglan, Pantabangan and Puncan, of which San Jose was initially part of. San Jose was originally known as Kabaritan which is an Ilocano term for a "place abundant of barit", a type of rattan plant. It was a barrio of Puncan and then of Lupao, before becoming an independent town in 1894, and was renamed San Jose in honor of its patron saint, Joseph.^[2]

Until 1928, San Jose was under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia before becoming part of the Diocese of Lingayen, later Lingayen–Dagupan, which was established in the same year. Under Lingayen–Dagupan, the church was administered by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart after World War II. San Jose was then annexed to the Diocese of Cabanatuan when the diocese, then comprising the entire province of Nueva Ecija, was founded in 1963.^[3] Twenty-one years later, in 1984, the church became the cathedral of the Diocese of San Jose whose territory comprises the northern half of the province.^[1]^[3]^[4]^[5]

In 1997, the remodeling of the old cathedral church was started under then San Jose Bishop Leo Drona. It was finished in 2006 and was reconsecrated by then Lingayen–Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz on March 20 of the same year.^[6] The reredos or retablo of the cathedral are works of Kapampangan artist Willy Layug, who also worked on the cathedrals of Dagupan, Bacolod, and Urdaneta.^[7]^[8]