Papal Nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop Charles John Brown, Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas led recently the formal rites that officially designated the St. Dominic Parish in San Carlos City, Pangasinan as the Minor Basilica of St. Dominic, the first basilica dedicated to St. Dominic de Guzman in the country.

Bishops, members of the clergy, and representatives of religious and lay organizations also attended the event.

Parish priest Rev. Fr. Mario Dominic Sanchez said the designation will serve as a motivation and challenge for the religious in the province to heighten the mission to evangelize.

“It is a challenge that is given to us in San Carlos to continue the work of evangelization that we have received. We receive evangelization now and it is time for us to evangelize beginning in our families, in our communities, in the neighborhood and then to have more vocations.” Fr. Sanchez said over Radio Veritas.

Pope Francis approved the designation of the parish as a minor basilica in July 2022. The parish is the 20th minor basilica in the country. Basilicas are assigned by the Pope to certain Catholic churches because of their antiquity and historical significance as centers of worship.

Fr. Sanchez expressed his gratitude to the Dominicans who helped spread the faith in San Carlos City when they arrived in the province in 1587. The parish was established in 1733 followed by a few more parish churches around the 86 barangays in the city.

For his part, Master of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) Fr. Gerard Timoner, III, OP said the basilica is the first in Asia and the fifth in the world dedicated to their founder, St. Dominic.

“In these trying times where people seem to be lost in despair, St. Dominic offers us ‘spem miram’, ‘a wonderful hope.’ In this Basilica of St. Dominic, may we always find spem miram, the wonderful hope by Dominic - Christ our Lord, who nourishes us in Word and in Sacrament,” said Fr. Timoner.

The first Dominican church in Pangasinan province was a simple chapel of bamboo and nipa built in 1587 in Binalatongan, now the city of San Carlos. The original site was moved to higher locations three times in the 17th and 18th centuries due to seasonal flooding. In the 18th century, most churches were built of bricks and the largest bricks produced then were from San Carlos.

After the Palaris Revolt in 1765, a new church in its current site was built and completed in 1773. The church is now 250 years old.