The Cathedral-Shrine of Saint Joseph, Husband of Mary, commonly known as Balanga Cathedral, in Balanga, Bataan, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Balanga which comprises entire of the civil province of Bataan, Philippines. Currently, Noel Niguid and Alwin Bobis serve as the cathedral priests. On March 19, 2015, the cathedral was formally declared a diocesan shrine, changing its status from cathedral-parish to cathedral-shrine.
During the Japanese invasion, the cathedral was used as an artillery emplacement to bombard Mt. Samat, where the Filipino-American troops made their last stand. It was later renovated by the first bishop of the diocese, Celso Guevarra, who made its patron saint, Saint Joseph.
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The present church structure of Balanga is credited to Fray Benito Rivas OP, parish priest of Balanga from 1869 to 1876. From this remodeling, the good friar added transepts and a dome to the church, contributing to its handsome appearance. Archival photos also show that this construction update also gave its altar a magnificent two-tiered baldachin for a retablo, something that is highly unusual, if not one-of-a-kind in the whole archipelago. Aside from his great contributions to the church construction, Fray Rivas is also recognized for his contributions to the livelihood of the people of Balanga.
After Bishop Celso became Bishop of Balanga on November 8, 1975, he renovated the church. Its walls were white and a number of chandeliers hung from the ceiling, the largest before the altar. Behind the altar was a structure painted green with stripes of gold and a statue of Jesus in the left, Mary on the right, and Joseph holding the hand of Baby Jesus. Beside the altar, there were two statues, Lorenzo Ruiz in the left and Mary at the right. There was a group of bells lined together vertically by metal grilles, the usual bell design in almost all of the parishes in Bataan. There was a statue of Jesus of Nazareth near the main door, which was kept for rehabilitation, believed to be miraculous. People lined up and gave sampaguitas to its neck and cross; they would usually wipe its feet. From 1995 to 1996 during the tenure of Celso Guevarra, the cathedral's facade was changed where the bricks were added over the facade's white paint, the hole was moved higher, a cross was added on its top, and the tablets of the Ten Commandments outside the cathedral were removed.
When Bishop Socrates Villegas assumed office as third Bishop of Balanga on July 3, 2004 two months after being appointed to the position on May 3 of that year, he saw that the decorations were in bad shape; he renovated the inside with a new design. When it was finished, the white walls were replaced by a wall of bricks, the structure behind the altar became marble white, the floors were higher, the lectern bearing the coat of arms of diocese of Balanga was replaced with the one with Holy Spirit, the chandeliers were replaced by ceiling lights, the alternating diamond and square pattern at the cathedral's arches were removed, the stations of the cross were changed from glass frames to their sculpture on wood version, and the floors become higher by adding the tiles, with the cathedral's aisle now have the coat of arms of respective bishops of Balanga with the latest is the coat of arms of Villegas' successor Bishop Ruperto Santos which was added when he was installed or assumed office as fourth bishop of the diocese on July 8, 2010 three months after being appointed on April 1. In 2008, 15 life-size images of saints with their names were added outside the cathedral representing the patron saints from the 11 towns and 1 city of Bataan where the Diocese of Balanga has jurisdiction with and a few towns have multiple saints (with St. Gemma Galgani was later added as the 16th and latest statue four years later in 2012 during the tenure of Ruperto Santos). In 2009 months before Villegas became archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan on November 4 of that year, images featuring the ancestors of Jesus at the sides of a cathedral's dome and image of Jesus Christ at the dome itself were added.
During the tenure of Bishop Ruperto Santos, the patio and exterior area of the cathedral was improved, and numerous vendors were discouraged within its premises. In early 2012, the cathedral's exterior was changed from a boundary wall to a fence. Due to St. Gemma Galgani Church in Mt. View, Mariveles, Bataan became a parish on July 21, 2012 which included on a roster of the diocese's churches and parishes, a statue of her was added outside the cathedral later that year. The cathedra's clothing was changed from red to orange with a cross at its backrest in 2015. Pavement of the ground on the exterior was made from 2017 to 2018, the belfry added the bricks in 2019, and the side exterior walls of the cathedral were repainted.[1] In 2020, the cathedral's roof were painted from green and white to red. Pipe organs were also added on the cathedral's choir loft. Months before Santos became Bishop of Antipolo on July 22, 2023, the cathedral's leftmost entrance was blocked with a wall but the door is still present.
Five years after the cathedral's last repainting in 2019, it was again repainted during sede vacante period between Bishop Ruperto Santos and his successor as Bishop of Balanga, and under the apostolic administration of Archbishop of San Fernando, Pampanga Florentino Lavarias and tenure of Fr. Noel Niguid as cathedral's rector and parish priest.
The feast day of Saint Joseph is celebrated twice annually in the city of Balanga, on March 19 and the pistang bayan every April 28.
Media related to Balanga Cathedral at Wikimedia Commons