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A challenge to Every layman:
Rebuild San Francisco Church
By Marianne Olaño
Photos by Fr. Nelson Tria/Marianne Olaño
Its
half-finished façade is not the most beautiful thing to behold,
the honking cars during Sunday mass is not the most soothing of
sounds, and yet it is always full to swelling with people.
The
perspective of the
fully-renovated San Francisco church.
It is not the
biggest nor is it the most historical of churches, but this church
enjoys the highest number of mass-goers every Sunday.
Located in one of the busiest streets of Naga, in front of the
Quince Martirez Park, you are almost startled to see it nestled
amidst the glaring neon signs of food chains and commercial
establishments.
This is the San Francisco church. Home to both visitors and
parishioners, it has been serving the faithful for over 300
hundred years.
Unlike the grand history-rich Metropolitan Cathedral, San
Francisco has been elevated to parish only in1998.
And like any new parish, its first problem is always
reconstruction.
Counting the numbers
After it has become a parish, plans for its expansion and
renovation immediately started. In 2001, it started the initial
phase of repair and construction. But until now, it remains
unfinished, and despite the vigorous efforts of its current parish
priest, church goers are far from seeing the completed church.
“At present, construction has temporarily stopped because of funds
shortage, but we will resume in June. I’m asking for another two
years, and by this time, we hope to see the new church.”,
explained Fr. Nelson Tria, parish priest of San Francisco.
When he assumed post as parish priest, Tria accepted the
responsibility of the almost insurmountable task of finishing the
church. “We had an initial fund of 5 M, and we spent 3M just for
the altar. Next, came the ceilings which have been replaced and
repainted. We have also finished tiling the floor, but this cost
the parish a hefty 1.5M” Now we’re down to almost nothing.” he
explained.
“I will need another 10 million to finish construction…at present,
we really do not know where to get this amount, but we have plans
for more fund raising projects….” Tria reveals.
Funds have been sourced from successive fund raising projects
spearheaded by layman Dr. Benjie Florendo. Other funds also came
in the form of walk-in donations and solicitations from Nagueños
abroad.
“We gross around P30 thousand per week, but half of this go to the
parish’s operation expenses. But we are thankful nonetheless for
our generous parishioners. Sometimes, we are pleasantly surprised
when we literally see dollars in our collection boxes”, Tria
laughingly recalls.
However, the money sourced from the different fund raising
projects and donations is still not enough to finish the church.
“I will need another 10 million to finish construction…at present,
we really do not know where to get this amount, but we have plans
for more fund raising projects….” Tria reveals.
When asked if he has asked the support of local establishments to
help his fundraising, Tria shook his head. “ I do not want to
force anybody to donate…I would like to feel that the people
should give out of their own initiative, and because they feel
that they are part of this parish.”
 A
community effort
At present, construction for another belfry is ongoing. The façade
and the exterior of the church is still unfinished. “The church
was originally constructed with only one belfry in 1959, and
building another one is costing us a lot of money,” the parish
priest explained.
Despite the ongoing renovation, and sometimes the inconvenience of
building materials all around, the church goers still flock to
attend the regular Sunday Mass.
“Finishing the church is a community effort that should be taken
seriously by every faithful stepping foot inside its hallowed
grounds. This building is just an external symbol of the true
church that communes here every day and every Sunday…rebuilding it
is a way of developing the values of our parishioners… I want to
rebuild this church, not out of commercial donations by some
bigwig companies or from dole-outs of politicians, but from the
pockets of every person who comes here to worship, because this is
one way of strengthening their commitment in our faith.
Parishioners enjoy a solemn moment before the new altar.
Did you know?
We pass by San Francisco church every time we go to work or to
school, and most of the time, we take it for granted, seeing just
another edifice, another tall building with a cross and a bell.
But it has been there for hundreds of years, long before we were
born, and because of this, it is home to a variety of rich
historical vignettes that makes it interesting.
• it was built by pioneering Franciscans named Fray Pablo de Jesus
and Bartolome Ruiz who came here mainly to provide medical help
rather than evangelization.
• The first church was built in 1578, making it one of the oldest
religious settlement to be established in Bikol.
• The old structure was expanded in 1883, but was destroyed in
1915. From that time, it has not been rebuilt, and has been sold
to serve as a rice mill and even as movie house but both have not
prospered. Later, it was reclaimed by the Diocese of Caceres.
• The present structure was built in 1959 under Fr. Dominador
Ravanera.
•The only remaining part of the old structure is the old belfry
which stands until today. At present, the belfry is home to the
image of the Nuestra Señora de la Porteria along with the
excavated bones found during the initial stages of renovation.
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