Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Jesús, or in English, Sweet Name of Jesus Cathedral, is a

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 ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Caguas Caguas (, ) is a city and municipality in central eastern Puerto Rico. Located in the eponymous Caguas Valley between the Sierra de Cayey and Sierra de Luquillo of the Central Mountain Range, it is bordered by San Juan and Trujillo Alto to ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. It is located on the Plaza Palmer in the center of town, and next to the

Colegio Católico Notre Dame Colegio Católico Notre Dame is a coeducational Roman Catholic school located in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Notre Dame is composed of a pre pre-kindergarten, pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school. Th ...

Elementary. There are only five cathedrals in Puerto Rico and Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Jesús is the seat of the Diocese of Caguas. The

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of the church, as well as that of the city, is the ''Dulce Nombre de Jesús'' ( Sweet Name of Jesus).

History

The cathedral was constructed where the old ''ermita'' ( hermitage or rural

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

) of San Sebastián del Barrero used to be located.Urban Transitsol Caguas
San Sebastián del Barrero was the first Spanish settlement in the area that now comprises the City of Caguas. It is known that the chapel was built prior to 1645. Into the 18th century, the chapel was used for holding religious services. When the

Municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

of Caguas was established by the

Spanish Crown The monarchy of Spain or Spanish monarchy () is the constitutional form of government of Spain. It consists of a Hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarch who reigns as the head of state, being the highest office of the country. The Spanish ...

in 1775, the chapel was designated as its

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

and renamed. The church was expanded at the end of the 19th century and remodeled in the 1920s. In 1930, part of the reconstruction of its current facade was started. This project was finished in the middle of the century. In 1936, the church was improved and remodeled again to its present form. The church was raised to the status of cathedral when the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas The Diocese of Caguas () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in southeastern Puerto Rico in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of ...

was created by

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

in 1964.

Tombs

The remains of

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

Ximénez (died 1806),

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of the town, and of Rafael Grovas Félix (died 1991), the first Bishop of Caguas, are buried there. The remains of

Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago, also known as "Blessed Charlie" (November 22, 1918 – July 13, 1963), was a Catholic Church, Catholic catechist and liturgist who was Beatification, beatified by Pope John Paul II on April 29, 2001. He ...

are also located in the cathedral. Rodríguez, better known locally as "el beato Charlie", spent his life in the surrounding neighborhood and is a candidate for

canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

, the only

layman In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. ...

from Puerto Rico to be so honored by the Catholic Church, and the first such American to

beatified Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the ...

. His tomb reads: "We live for that night", referring to

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, which was one of his favorite sayings.

Gallery

File:2021catedraldecaguas1.jpg, Interior of the cathedral as of 2021. File:2021catedraldecaguas2.jpg, Puerta Santa

References

External links

Official Site

Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas
(Official Site in Spanish)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Catedral Dulce Nombre de Jesus (Caguas, Puerto Rico) Caguas, Puerto Rico Dulce Nombre De Jesus 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings Roman Catholic churches completed in 1645 1645 establishments in the Spanish Empire 17th-century establishments in Puerto Rico

History

Tombs

Gallery

See also

References

External links