San Sebastian Cathedral Parish, commonly known as Tarlac Cathedral, is a post-war,

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located in Brgy. Mabini,

Tarlac City Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac (; ; ; ), is a component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 385,398 people, making it the most p ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. The

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, which was dedicated to

Saint Sebastian Sebastian (; ) was an early Christianity, Christian saint and martyr. According to traditional belief, he was killed during the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians. He was initially tied to a post or tree and shot with arrows, though this d ...

in 1686, is the seat of the Diocese of Tarlac. A historical marker of the

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP; ) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural heritage through research, dissemination, conservation, sites management ...

was unveiled near the cathedral's entrance on July 15, 2022.

Parish history

The town of Tarlac was said to have been established in 1686 by priests assigned to Magalang,

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

. The town was managed by the

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

from

until in 1725, a petition was brought to the attention of the Father Provincial to separate Tarlac from its distant matrix. In 1727, the separation was fulfilled with Tarlac being declared an independent parish. In 1757, however, the parish of Tarlac was annexed back to Magalang for quite some time.

Architectural history

The first known parochial building of Tarlac is attributed to Father Agustín Barriocanal in 1740. Later in 1872, a wood and stone church was erected by Father Baltasar Gamarra. Construction lasted until 1875 under Father Tomás Fito, and was completed by Father Fermín Sardón in 1890. The finished church was said to have been identical to the church of Concepcion. This structure was completely destroyed in 1945 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was later rebuilt as the present-day church.

Gallery

File:Tarlac Cathedral Interior, Jul 2024.jpg, Cathedral interior in 2024 File:1Interior of the San Sebastian Cathedral of Tarlac 04.jpg,

Stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window featuring

File:1Interior of the San Sebastian Cathedral of Tarlac 75.jpg, Church sanctuary File:1Interior of the San Sebastian Cathedral of Tarlac 78.jpg,

Altar rails The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the chancel or the sanctuary and altar in a church, from the nave and ot ...

File:1Interior of the San Sebastian Cathedral of Tarlac 87.jpg,

References

External links

* * {{Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac Roman Catholic churches in Tarlac Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Philippines Buildings and structures in Tarlac City 1686 establishments in the Philippines Gothic Revival church buildings in the Philippines Roman Catholic churches completed in 1686 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the Philippines Churches in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarlac Jubilee churches in the Philippines