About Us

The Saint Vincent Ferrer Seminary was founded in 1869. It is the fifth oldest and the last seminary that was established during the Spanish colonial period. On May 27, 1865 Pope Pius IX in the Bull of Erection, “QUI AB INITIO�, of the Diocese of Jaro, insisted that the new bishop should found and organize a seminary as soon as possible. The Archbishop of Manila, Most Rev. Gregorio Meliton Martinez on October 10, 1867, carried the decree into effect. Most Rev. Mariano Cuartero, O.P., at the time of his appointment as first Bishop of Jaro, was the in Spain acting as General Procurator of the Order. He was ordained Bishop at the Dominican Seminary of Ocania, Spain, on November 1867. He took possession of his Diocese on April 25, 1868. The new Bishop founded the Diocesan Seminary where he could train good pastors for the different parishes, which at that time were almost entirely under the spiritual administration of the Augustinians Friars, who were then regarded as the Fathers of Faith in Panay. On April 2, 1868, Bishop Cuartero arrived in Manila together with five Vincentian priests, three Brothers and sixteen Daughters of Charity. Having taken possession of the Diocese, Bishop Cuartero began his work immediately of enlarging the parish of “La Candelaria� to be his cathedral church, the adaptation of the convento to be his residence and the foundation of the Diocesan Seminary on December 1869. The Vicentian Fathers, upon the request of Bishop Cuartero, came to Jaro to organize and direct the Diocesan Seminary. The first Vincentian Fathers who took the direction of the Seminary of Jaro was made of three priests: Fr. Ildefonso Moral, Rector, one of the greatest figures in the early history of the Vincentians in the Philippines; Fr. Aniceto Gonzales, who directed the construction of the Seminary building and later, succeeded Fr. Moral as Rector; and the newly ordained priest, Fr. Juan Miralda. Before the end of 1870, two young priests, Fr. Juan Jayme and Fr. Rufino Martin and a brother of Francisco Lopez joined the community. A year later Fr. Joaquin Jayme replaced his brother Juan who, was transferred to the Seminary of Cebu. At the death of Fr. Martin in 1873, Fr. Juan Jayme took over his work. Those were the founders of the Seminario Metropolitano de San Vicente Ferrer. Who the first seminarians were, is another question worth answering but this was partly unanswered because of the fire of 1906 which raced the Seminary building and its records into ashes. It was known, however, that some of the first Seminarians of Jaro had transferred to Cebu like the two “habitatis.� They are so called because being students of Moral Theology, they already donned to the sotana. They were Basilio Albarand Silvestre Apura, who were ordained priests in Jaro in 1873 and 1874 respectively. At first, the Seminary has housed at Bishop’s residence. The Bishop busied himself with the idea of building up an adequate edifice for his Seminary. The Bishop begged and appealed to his people for help which they gave generously. Of special mention in this regard were the sisters Ana and Maria Sitchon, priest Fr. Mariano Sitchon and Dona Gregoria Hingson, all the Parian (now Molo). On March 11, 1871, the cornerstone was laid and the construction of the Seminary begun under the direction of Fr. Aniceto Gonzales who acted as foreman. The fathers and seminarians join the workers during their free time. They carried the bricks from the riverbank where the bancas unloaded them to the place of work. Even Bishop Cuarteto was seen many time carrying the bricks with the Seminarians. By October 1872, a good part of building was finished and ready for use. The Seminary was transferred amidst the jubilation of all. In the same year, Fr. Gonzales had succeeded Fr, Moral as Rector. He gave the construction a great support. The building was completed on November 1874. The Seminary, as completed in 1847, was of quadrilateral shape with dimensions 54 x 52 meters. In the center was the interior garden measuring 23 square meters. The first floor was made of stone and bricks while the second floor was made of hard wood. At that time it was undoubtedly the best seminary in the Philippines. The new seminary soon became the most popular and first center of secondary education in the island. The number of students who requested to be allowed to take secondary education in the seminary but without any intention of pursuing priesthood was so many. Fr. Ildefonso Moral, who was reappointed rector in 1875, decided to open the seminary doors to lay students as had already been done in other diocesan seminaries. Thus the seminary lost its character of being a school solely and exclusively for priestly formation. But this adulteration of the Tridentine institution was partly due to certain historical circumstances. The innovation introduced to seminary studies proved a success. The number of students increased year after year. The average enrolment from 1875 to 1891 was of some 150 interns and three hundred externs. Statistics found in the book “Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid, 1887-Memoria� show a total enrolment of 5,344 for the year 1875-1885. So, it became imperative the building. When the good Bishop Cuartero died in the year 1884, Fr. Juan Miralda was appointed the rector and he undertook the new construction. It consisted of adding 46 meters to the already 52 meters long right wing of the building. The actual building thus looked then like a letter “P.� The expenses of this work added to those of 1874 made a total sum of some PhP 250,000.00. The St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary was the first of the seminaries to be run by the Vincentian fathers to become a first class college, being fully incorporated in the University of Santo Tomas in 1891. Sometime in 1890, Bishop Arrue from Governor General Valeriano Weyler for the authorization to offer baccalaureate studies for those students who, having finished secondary education here, couldn’t afford to pursue college studies in Manila. The request was granted without delay since the institution had complied with all the requirements of Art. 13 del Reglamento 1867. From then on and until 1897 when the first signs of Filipino-Spanish conflict started, the seminary enjoyed a flourishing life. Its average yearly enrollment was of some one hundred fifty inters and some six to seven hundred externs. The happy school days came to sudden stop with the outbreak of Filipino-Spanish. The seminary became a military barrack of three nationalities: first by the Spanish soldiers, then by the Filipino forces and later by the American soldiers. By then, the seminarians had disbanded to the provinces and the some of the fathers had sailed to Manila. On February 11, 1898 the American soldiers occupied the seminary. The seminary fathers headed by Fr. Viera, rector; Fr. Napal and Fr. Zaro were ordered to abandon the seminary. They proceeded to Sta. Barbara and presented themselves with Gen. Martin Delgado, the revolutionary leader during the Guerilla War. He was an alumnus of the Seminario-colegio and because of this, he treated them cordially. Upon his advice, they continued their flight up north in search for a safe place to stay. By March 6, the fathers received instruction from Gen. Delgado to return to Iloilo. Since the American soldiers occupied the seminary, the fathers made their residence in Colegio de San Jose. Acting upon the request of the Apostolic Delegate, Bishop Ferrero requested the fathers to return to the seminary. This they did on February 1902. Their first task was to condition the seminary for the opening of classes, for they had found it in disarray. As Fr. Mariano Napal said, if they wanted to sit down, they had to do it in the staircases. The new fathers joined the community. By 1903 there

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