Our Lady of Lourdes Parish

Background

 

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish was formally established in Decree on April 26, 1981 by the late Archbishop of Palo, Most Reverend Monsignor Cirpriano V. Urgel. Installed as the first Parish Priest was then Rev. Fr. Benjamin M. Bacierra. The new Parish independent of the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Parish would comprise the territorial boundaries of the V & G Better Homes Subdivision inclusive of Barangays Caibaan and Calanipawan, and Imelda Village. The Patroness chosen for the new parish was in deference to the request of the late Doña Gorgonia de la Cruz who was a devotee of Our Lady of Lourdes. In fact she had a grotto to Our Lady made near the temporary chapel of the Parish.

 

In 1981 only the Legion of Mary existed. Later, the Confraternity of Our Lady of Lourdes and the Parish Choir were organized. Young people in the community formed the YESCAP named later as the Parish Youth Ministry and to become the Teens Encounter with Christ or TEC. In succeeding years, the Knights of Columbus, Daughters of Mary Immaculate, Confraternities of Our Lord, of the Blessed Mother, and of Saints were organized and established. Vocations for the priesthood came from among the Knights of the Altar. The newly established Catechetical Program in 1982 provided catechesis to the pupils of the V & G Elementary School. An instrument of initial evangelization was the Neo-Catechumenal Communities that found its way to the Parish in 1983. 

Church services were conducted in a chapel located at the forked road fronting the wet market while the temporary rectory was a unit assigned to the engineer-grandson of the De la Cruz Family. Construction of the Parish Church was started only in the summer of 1983 although its ground breaking was in 1979 yet. Funds were generated through varied fund-raising activities including sports activities initiated by the newly organized Parish Sports Council. When Fr. Bacierra was transferred to another parish, the new parish priest, Rev. Fr. Isidro Arroyo saw to the completion of the Church construction, as well as that of the Rectory and the initial work on the Formation Center.  It was during the assignment of Msgr. Benjamin Sabillo to the Parish that the Formation Center was completed. Other structures were introduced by Rev. Fr. Rolando Cuayzon. The present Grotto in the church plaza was an initiative of Rev. Fr. Gilbert G. Urbina. 

 

From 1981 to 2006 when the Parish celebrated its Silver Jubilee anniversary, almost all pastoral programs were in place. The community of disciples consisted of Extraordinary Ministers of the Holy Communion, lectors, psalmists, Knights of the Altar, catechists, religious organizations, faith communities, and renewal movements. Basic ecclesial communities started its organization on June 17, 2006 and piloted in Phase 2B. A Parish Council assisted the Parish Priest in various Parish activities. Services and ministries were officiated in the parish church and chapels. Meetings and religious activities were held in the conference room of the Rectory or its grounds, in the grotto, inside or alongside of the Parish church, and at the Formation Center. At present the parish has already  ordained in the diocesan and religious congegation.

 

Ordained Priests

 

1. Rev. Fr. Alejandro Abelido Jr.  

2. Rev. Fr. Norman Abolencia      

3. Rev . Fr. Marowen A. Adona    

4. Rev. Fr. Erwin Balagapo           

5. Rev. Fr. Elmo Borgueta             

6. Rev. Fr. Paulino C. Cabahit, Jr.

7. Rev. Fr. Rey Caraballa               

8. Rev. Fr. Francisco Colasito*

9. Rev, Msgr. Crisanto B. de la Cruz*

10. Rev. Fr. Reynaldo Jostol        

11. Rev. Fr. Leo Llames*                

12. Rev. Fr. Erlito Maraya             

13. Rev. Fr. Alvin Nicolasora        

14. Rev. Fr. Rex Ramirez               

15. Rev. Fr. Norman Solidor         

16. Rev. Fr. David Vivero*           

 

alls of the Archdiocese and the Parish

 

On February 14, 2009 after a year-long celebration of the Silver Jubilee anniversary of the Archdiocese of Palo and launching of the three-year preparation for the Diamond Jubilee celebration of Palo as a Diocese, the Archbishop of Palo, Most Rev. Msgr. Jose S. Palma, DD, SThD, promulgated a Decree and the Statutes Pertinent To The Parish Organizational Structure: Parish Pastoral Council (amended), and the Parish Finance Council (ad experimentum for 3 yrs). The first part of this document is the amended formulation of Parish Pastoral Councils, its I. Nature and Purpose, II. Parish Commissions, III. Parish Treasurer, and, IV. Parish Auditor. The second part of the Statute focus on  the establishment of Parish Finance Councils in every parish and quasi-parish in the Archdiocese, its I. Nature and Purpose, II. Structure and Composition, III. Officers, IV. Functions, V. Acts of Administration, VI. Meetings, VII. Voting, VIII. Relationship With The Parish Pastoral Council And The Commission On Temporalities, and IX. Effectivity And Amendment.

The amended statute in the formulation of Parish Pastoral Councils and the establishment of Parish Finance Councils ad experimentum for three years are challenges for research, planning and evaluation of every parish in the Archdiocese of Palo. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, with the initiative and guidance of the newly-installed Parish Priest, Rev. Msgr. Ramon Stephen B. Aguilos, and his Vicar, Rev. Fr. Armand R. Dagsa, prepared this 3-year Parish Pastoral Plan to coincide with this amendment in the Statute and the usual period of tenure for parish priests but more specially as a gift to our Patroness on the occasion of the Pearl Anniversary or the thirtieth year of the Parish. Included in this three-year Plan are the Activities between September to December 2010.

 

The Situation

 

Critical in the interpretation and implementation of the Statute is an understanding and appreciation of an organization as a System. The Archdiocese of Palo is the Macro System to where Our Lady of Lourdes Parish (Focal System) as well as dioceses and other parishes in the territorial coverage of the archdiocese belong. Figure 1 illustrates this relationship.

 

Figure 1. Relationship of the Archdiocese of Palo, Dioceses and Our Lady Of Lourdes Parish.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The interacting parts of the Parish are its subsystems – the Parish Pastoral Council, Parish Finance Council, Parish Treasurer, Parish Auditor, Commissions on Worship, Education or Christian Formation, Social Action, Temporalities, and Youth. Figure 2 illustrates the Parish Sub-Systems and relationship with each other.

 

Figure 2. The Parish Sub-Systems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish presently comprises of Barangays Caibaan and Calanipawan, Imelda Village, and Phases 1, 2, 2b, 3, 4, 4 Extension, 5, and 6 of the V & G Subdivision. (Figure 3) The Parish likewise belongs to a Vicariate which is composed of all parishes in Tacloban and the Parish in Babatngon, Leyte (Figure 4).

 

Figure 3. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4. The Vicariate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish has linkages with other Parishes and collaborate with government agencies, non-government organizations and health facilities in the implementation of its ministries and religious activities. Notably, the Neo-Catechumenal Community of the Parish has extended its evangelization work to the Diocese of Maasin which is a suffragan of the Metropolitan Province of Cebu. This collaboration and coordination is shown in Figure 5.

 

Figure 5. Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Other Dioceses, Government, Non-