JARO CATHEDRAL
Jaro Cathedral or Church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, was built in 1864 under the order of His Excellency Mariano Cuarter, OP, first bishop of Jaro.
The cathedral has a Romanesque Revival style with arched windows and entryways, heavy masonry walls and square towers with conical roofs. The façade of the cathedral is asymmetrical. The belfry is not attached to the church but stands in front of it.
Graciano Lopez Jaena, journalist and national hero, was baptized here in Dec. 20, 1856.
The church was damaged by an earthquake in January 1948 and restored in 1956.
St. Pope John Paul II visited the Jaro Cathedral in Feb. 21, 1981 where he declared the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Lady of the Candles) as the Patroness of Western Visayas.
The patroness is the only female in the cathedral’s dominantly male collection of saints which line its walls.
Today, bingka stalls dot the cathedral’s lawn during weekends, a welcome treat for churchgoers and visitors.