The San Salvador del Mundo Church is the parish church of

Caraga, Davao Oriental Caraga, officially the Municipality of Caraga ( ceb, Lungsod sa Caraga; tl, Bayan ng Caraga), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Davao Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,704 people. It i ...

. The town was established in 1861 making it one of the oldest towns in the province of Davao Oriental. When the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

took charge of the spiritual administration of the town in 1871 from the

Augustinian Recollects The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine. History The Order was founded in 16t ...

, a stone and wooden church was built in 1877 to serve as mission station of Spanish Missionaries in propagating Christianity in the eastern side of Mindanao. When it was completed in 1884, the church was dedicated to San Salvador del Mundo (Christ, Holy Saviour of the World).

Location

San Salvador del Mundo Church is built on promontory facing the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

situated in Caraga’s Poblacion.

Features

The San Salvador del Mundo Church is designed as a fortress church mainly made of limestone blocks, corals and wood. The church’s main door has inscription that bears a symbol of Christ which dates the structure's foundation in 1884. The interior has undergone much renovation since the church's centenary in 1996. Traces of the dilapidated

retablo A retablo is a devotional painting, especially a small popular or folk art one using iconography derived from traditional Catholic church art. More generally ''retablo'' is also the Spanish term for a retable or reredos above an altar, whether ...

s and old roofing can no longer be seen except for the remnants of narra hardwood posts and lateral walls which are still intact. The Church houses several interesting artifacts that date back during its early years in the Spanish colonial era. Its stunning features include two centuries-old giant seashells that serve as holy water font for churchgoers. There is also the

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

, which was used during the Spanish era and is now kept at the Holy Door of San Salvador del Mundo Parish. Other church features found at the church are the Church Bell that dates back to 1802; an antique statue of

San Isidro Labrador Isidore the Labourer, also known as Isidore the Farmer ( es, San Isidro Labrador) (c. 1070 – May 15, 1130), was a Spanish farmworker known for his piety toward the poor and animals. He is the Catholic patron saint of farmers and of Madrid, El ...

, the town’s patron saint, can still be seen in the altar; the centuries-old Baptismal registry which is still intact; and several antique parish records and archives which are all intact and safely kept and preserved inside a cabinet in one of the rooms of the church.

Declaration as a National Historical Site

On July 16, 2012, in time of its parochial feast day, San Salvador del Mundo Church was declared a national historical site by the

National Historical Commission of the Philippines The National Historical Commission of the Philippines ( fil, Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas, abbreviated NHCP) is a government agency of the Philippines. Its mission is "the promotion of Philippine history and cultural herita ...

(NHCP). According to NHCP Executive Director

Ludovico Badoy Ludovico Deles Badoy (September 19, 1951 – April 18, 2021) was a Filipino politician who served as executive director of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) from 2002 to 2020. He previously served as the mayor of Cotab ...

, the church is not only significant for the province of Davao Oriental but for the whole country, as San Salvador del Mundo is where Christianity began in the eastern part of the Philippines.

Typhoon Pablo

On the morning of December 4, 2012, the 128-year San Salvador del Mundo Church held its ground against Typhoon Pablo (Bopha). The monstrous typhoon flattened communities and plantations and left 1,000 dead, 800 missing and tens of thousands homeless. Miraculously, Caraga Church was spared.

References

{{Reflist Roman Catholic churches in Davao Oriental Tourist attractions in Davao Oriental Important Cultural Properties of the Philippines