Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Jesus
Encyclopedia
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Roman Catholic denomination located on Corchado Street in Caguas, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. It is located in front of Plaza Palmer in the center of town, and next to the Colegio Católico Notre Dame
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-kindergarten, kindergarten, elementary school, a middle school, and a high school...
Elementary. There are only five cathedrals in Puerto Rico and Cathedral Dulce Nombre de Jesús is the cathedral of the Diocese of Caguas
Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Caguas is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in the Caribbean and consists of the east and southeast part of the island of Puerto Rico, an American commonwealth. The diocese is led by a Bishop Ruben González Medina, C.M.F...
. The Patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
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 hermitageHermitage (religious retreat)
Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...
of San Sebastián del Barrero used to be located.San Sebastián del Barrero was the first Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
village in the area that now comprises the City of Caguas. It is known that the hermitage was built prior to 1645. In the 18th century the hermitage was used for carrying out religious activities. When, in 1775, the town of Caguas was established, the church was nominated to be adopted as its official church and it started using the name of Church of Dulce Nombre de Jesús.
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 adopted the name Parroquial Church Dulce Nombre de Jesús.
Tombs
The remains of Father Ximénez (1806), parish priest of the church, and of Monsignor Rafael Grovas (1991), the first bishop of Caguas. The remains of Carlos Manuel RodríguezCarlos Manuel Rodríguez
Blessed Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Santiago was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Rodríguez was a layperson of the Roman Catholic Church, who was beatified on April 29, 2001...
, candidate for future canonization
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
, are also located in the cathedral. His tomb read: "This is the most important day of the year.", which was one of his favorite sayings.