| Barásoain Church | |
|---|---|
| Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish | |
 Churchfacade in 2023 | |
| 14°50′48″N120°48′46″E / 14.846649°N 120.812679°E /14.846649; 120.812679 | |
| Location | Malolos,Bulacan |
| Country | Philippines |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | www |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Founded | August 31, 1859 |
| Dedication | Our Lady of Mount Carmel |
| Relics held | John Paul II |
| Events | Philippine Revolution Philippine–American War |
| Associated people | Emilio Aguinaldo Felipe Calderon Pedro Paterno |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Seat of the First Philippine Republic |
| Designated | August 1, 1973 |
| Architect | Miguel Magpayo |
| Architectural type | Church building |
| Style | BaroqueRenaissance Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1885 |
| Completed | 1888 |
| Specifications | |
| Number of towers | 1 |
| Materials | Adobe and concrete |
| Bells | 8 |
| Administration | |
| District | West |
| Province | Manila |
| Diocese | Malolos |
| Clergy | |
| Rector | Domingo M. Salonga |
| Vicar | Niño Jomel H. De Leon |
 | |
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, also known asBarásoain Church (Tagalog:[baɾaswaˈʔin];Spanish:[baˈɾa.so.ãĩn]), is aRoman Catholicchurch built in 1888[1] inMalolos,Bulacán, Philippines.[2] It is under the jurisdiction of theDiocese of Malolos and is about 42 kilometers (26 mi) fromManila. Having earned the title as the "Cradle of Democracy in the East, the most important religious building in the Philippines,"[3] and the site of theFirst Philippine Republic, the church is proverbial for its historical importance amongFilipinos.
The name "Barásoain" is fromBarásoain inNavarre,Spain, the birthplace ofJosé Julián de Aranguren,OSA (February 16, 1801 – April 18, 1861). He served as the 22ndArchbishop of Manila from 1847 to 1861.[4]
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Barásoain was originally known as "Bangkál", a part ofEncomienda of Malolos integrated byMiguel López de Legaspi with the town ofCalumpit to the west on April 5, 1572. When theAugustinian friars made Malolos a separate town in 1580, Bangkál became a village under the jurisdiction of the town church. Ahermitage made ofnipa and bamboo was constructed near the river between Maluslos (Malolospoblación) and Barasoain for the people of Bangkál. In that same year, Maloloscurate andVicar ForaneFray Agustín Carreno, OSA established the first chapel at the oldermita of the old Cemetery of Malolos. Abandoned in 1680, it served as the temporarychapel-of-ease of Barásoain, located in front of theCasa Tribunal (Presidencia), which is now commonly calledCasa Real de Malolos. A fire in the 17th century destroyed the new church.[citation needed]
Another church building was commissioned and constructed on a new site, its present location—corner of Paseo del Congreso and Antonio Bautista streets. Under the supervision of Francisco Royo, the new church was built, made of light materials. In 1884, the temporary church burnt down duringFlores de Mayo celebrations.[5]
From 1630 to 1859, priests serving in Barásoain were from the nearby mother church of the town, theParroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción de Malolos. Since the formal establishment of Barásoain as an independent parish to Malolos Church in 1859, several priests were assigned by the Augustinian Order, and later by theArchdiocese of Manila and Diocese of Malolos.[citation needed]
In 1859, Barásoain was separated from Malolos. As a new town and parish, theOur Lady of Mount Carmel was chosen to be its patroness. Francisco Arriola was appointed first parish priest on June 1, 1859, and he built the convent. A small ermita, constructed by Melchor Fernández in 1816 while he was parish priest of Malolos (1816–1840), served as the temporary parish church. One of the existing bells bears the year 1870; installed by Emeterio Rupérez, it was donated by the "principalía (sic) of Malolos." The bell was also dedicated to the Our Lady of Mount Carmel of Barásoain. Francisco Royo replaced the temporary chapel with a hewn stone church built between 1871 and 1878. This was soon destroyed by fire. The only remnant of this church is one of its bells, installed by Royo in 1873 and dedicated toSaint Francis Xavier. Juan Girón, who succeeded him, used the chapel of the cemetery until this one, too, was destroyed by theearthquakes of 1880. Girón then built a temporary chapel of nipa and bamboo which was burned down in 1884, during the solemn celebrations of theFeast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.
In 1885, Girón hired contractor Miguel Magpayo and began construction of a massive church made of masonry and brick. The church was completed under Girón's supervision. Jorde does not specify the year of its completion; he says only that, "at the time it was completed the pockets of Girón were drained."
In 1889, Martín Arconada started construction of thebelfry and the restoration of the convent. Three bells were installed in 1897. One of them was donated by Arconada and dedicated to his namesake,Saint Martin of Tours. In 1894, Miguel de Vera undertook another restoration of the convent.
As tensions were brewing between the Filipino revolutionaries and theAmericans who have arrived in the country in the wake of theSpanish–American War, thePhilippine Revolutionary Government under the leadership ofEmilio Aguinaldo decided to evacuate the capital north fromCavite to Malolos. Plans were made to write a new constitution for the soon to be proclaimed Philippine Republic; Barásoain Church was chosen to be the site of theFirst Philippine Congress, otherwise known as the Malolos Congress, which convened on September 15, 1898 to draft theMalolos Constitution.
On January 21, 1899, the Malolos Constitution was ratified. This paved the way for the formal inauguration of theFirst Philippine Republic on January 23, 1899)[6] with Emilio Aguinaldo taking oath aspresident. The outbreak of thePhilippine-American War on February 4 plunged the Republic into crisis, and the Malolos Congress held its last session in the last week of February as the Aguinaldo government evacuated forNueva Ecija.
On March 31, 1899, American forces captured Malolos and Barásoain, which were placed under military control.
In 1903, the town of Barásoain was dissolved and re-annexed to Malolos.
By Presidential Decree No. 260, Barásoain Church was proclaimed as a National Shrine by PresidentFerdinand Marcos on August 1, 1973.[7] A museum was opened at the old convent of the church which is being managed by theNational Historical Commission of the Philippines.
In the wake of the 1998 Philippine Centennial celebrations, the church became the venue for the inauguration ofJoseph Estrada on June 30, 1998.[8]
The image of the church has been depicted in certain monetary bills until July 2001, namely theEnglish seriesone peso bill and thePilipino,Ang Bagong Lipunan, and both the 1985–1997 and 1997–2001New Design seriesten peso bill together with an image ofApolinario Mabini (withAndrés Bonifacio on the 1997 version) on the other side. However, it was replaced by a ten-peso coin without the representation of the church. In 2009, local priests and Laban ng Bulacan movement officials, led by then-chairman John Paul Albert Limpo, initiated a signature campaign to appeal to thePhilippine Bangko Sentral restoring at least the image of the church in any present Philippine bill.[9]
After three years of petition and conceptualization of the "New Generation Currency" from 2007 to 2010, and 9 years and 4 months since the last printing of the ten peso bill at the said month of 2001, Barásoain Church was featured again upon the start of print run of a new series on November 2010, this time in the 200-peso denomination, with the facade from 2010 to 2017 and its interior from 2017 to 2020 with a scene of the opening of theMalolos Congress.[10]
| Parish priest & rectors | Term |
|---|---|
| Francisco Arriola | 1860–1869 |
| Emiterio Ruperas | 1869–1872 |
| Francisco Royo | 1873–1879 |
| Juan Giron | 1881–1889 |
| Martin Arconada | 1889–1894 |
| Miguel Vera | 1894–1895 |
| Martin Arnada | 1898–1899 |
| Juan dela Rosa | 1899–1900 |
| Osmundo Lim | 1900–1902 |
| Carlos Inquimboy | 1902–1923 |
| Vicente Fernandez | 1923–1938 |
| Angel Cruz | 1939–1942 |
| Artemio Pascual | 1943–1944 |
| Arsenio Reyes | 1944–1950 |
| Pedro Abad | 1950–1951 |
| Jose Aguinaldo | 1951–1957 |
| Angel Pengson | 1957–1987 |
| Serafin Riego de Dios | 1987–1988 |
| Moises Andrade | 1989–1993 |
| Jose Aguilan Jr. | 1993–2000 |
| Filemon Capiral | 2000–2007 |
| Angelito J. Santiago, Jr. | 2007–2013 |
| Mario DJ Arenas | 2013–2014 |
| Rev. Msgr. Dario V. Cabral[11] | 2014–2021 |
| Rev. Msgr. Domingo M. Salonga P.C.[12] | 2021–present |
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