Caraga Parish in 1919

Two decades after the Americans took over the district of Davao—an event that also led to the arrival of American Protestant preachers four years later—the surviving Roman Catholic parishes organized by Spanish missionaries remained under the care of the Jesuits.

Cartas y Noticias Edificantes de la Provincia de Aragon Año 1919, a summary of Jesuit letters and significant events, provides contemporaneous accounts of life in present-day Davao Oriental.

Fr. Jose Grimal, S.J., parish priest of Cateel, wrote in a letter dated May 19, 1919, to the Mission Superior in Manila that life in the town was “so monotonous and without incidents that could capture anyone’s attention that one does not really feel inspired to take up the pen and attempt to interest others by telling them new things.”

In another letter, written on May 22, 1919, also from Cateel, he noted that at the time, the entire Caraga jurisdiction had only three houses: the parish priest’s residence in Caraga and two other structures—one each in Baganga and Cateel.

Records indicate that around this time, the town of Caraga, which had jurisdiction over the missions in the towns of Manay and Mati, was assigned a priest to handle the spiritual needs of the various reductions under its care. Additionally, the priest was responsible for ministering to non-tribal settlements and proselytizing Muslims, whom Fr. Grimal described as “either under government supervision or not.”

Cateel Parish, which had a population of about 6,000, separated from the Baganga mission in November 1914. The parishes of Baganga and Caraga were comparatively smaller, with Baganga being the youngest, having a population size similar to the missions of Manay and Mati.

Fr. Grimal’s church in Caraga is the San Salvador del Mundo Church, built in 1877 by the Jesuits after they took over the spiritual direction of the town from the Recollects in 1871. It was completed in 1884 and dedicated to Christ, the Holy Savior of the World.

Constructed from limestone blocks, hardwood, and coral stones, the church resembles a fortress, with its front door bearing a Christian symbol. Inside, it houses decrepit retablos and artifacts dating back to the early Spanish colonial period. Other notable features include centuries-old giant seashells used as holy-water vessels and a colonial-era baptismal font, which has since been archived.

Among the church’s treasured relics are an 1802 church bell, an antique San Isidro Labrador image, and an old baptismal registry. On July 16, 2012, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines declared San Salvador del Mundo Church a historical site. The oldest church in southern Mindanao, it survived the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Pablo on December 4, 2012.

In 2021, the Diocese of Mati and Ateneo de Davao University signed a memorandum of understanding to digitize the parish’s old records, which include sixteen volumes totaling approximately 2,500 oversized pages. These documents contain valuable details on baptisms, confirmations, marriages, death registrations, and financial records.

Fr. Grimal’s letters also included observations outside his jurisdiction. He reported that the parish house and church in Mati, much like those in Manay, were in a dilapidated state. The structures were built from wood, with tin roofs, making them vulnerable to the elements. In contrast, the church and convent in Caraga were in the best condition due to the high-quality hardwood used in their construction, similar to the materials in Baganga.

He also noted that the Cateel church measured 2 by 15 meters, making it larger than those in Baganga and Caraga. However, its rusted roof was in dire need of repairs, and while its posts were made from durable wood, the walls were nipa, and the floor was made of sand. Each mission had a church and a convent, typically small in size, built from nipa, and constructed by the collective efforts of the entire village.

In December 2012, Super Typhoon Pablo (Bopha) devastated Cateel. Remarkably, many of the centuries-old church pillars, made from massive hardwood trunks, survived the on-slaught of one of the strongest tropical cyclones to hit the country, even as most of the town lay in ruins.