Lipa Cathedral

Lipa Cathedral
Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian Katedral ng Lipa
Facade of Lipa Cathedral
Lipa Cathedral Location in the Philippines
13°56′27″N 121°09′48″E / 13.940951°N 121.163254°E / 13.940951; 121.163254Coordinates: 13°56′27″N 121°09′48″E / 13.940951°N 121.163254°E / 13.940951; 121.163254
Location	Lipa, Batangas
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Saint Sebastian
Architecture
Status	Parish Church
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Romanesque
Administration
Archdiocese	Lipa
Clergy
Archbishop	Gilbert Garcera
Priest in charge	Rev. Fr. Cecilio M. Arce
Assistant priest(s)	Rev. Fr. Bartolome E. Villafranca Rev. Fr. Emmanuel M. Vergara Rev. Fr. Froilan Carreon

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian, commonly known as the Lipa Cathedral, is a Romanesque church in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines. The cathedral serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Lipa. The Cathedral was chosen as the seat of the then Diocese of the Lipa in 1910. Detached from the Archdiocese of Manila and canonically erected by Pope St. Pius X, it comprised what are today the provinces of Batangas, Quezon, Aurora, Laguna, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, and part of the Camarines area.

Lipa was originally located close to the Laguna de Bombon, present-day Taal Lake. The Augustinian Chapter accepted Lipa under the name of "Convento de San Sebastian de Comintang" with Fr, Gabriel Rodriguez as first prior. In 1608, it was made a vicariate directly under the father province. In 1610, it was given the right to vote in the provincial chapters.

In 1754, Lipa was submerged after the eruption of Taal Volcano. To avoid a similar occurrence, the town was transferred to its present site. A new church was begun by Fr. Ignacio Pallares in 1779 and by Fr. Manuel Galiana in 1787, and was completed in 1790. In 1865, Fr. Maueal Diez Gonzalez completed the spacious transept.

Fr. Benito Baras, completed the construction of the church in 1865 and later built a bridge linking Lipa to Tanauan. On September 17, 1902, shortly after the Philippine Revolution of 1898, Pope Leo XIII issued the Apostolic Constitution Quae Mari Sinico mandating reorganization of the Church in the Philippines. His successor, Pius X, by papal declaration “Novas Erigere Ecclesias,” erected five new ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the Philippines: the Dioceses of Lipa, Calbayog, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga, and the Prelature of Puerto Princesa.