St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral

Overview

St. Joseph the Worker Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral located in Barangay Poblacion I, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. It is listed in the provincial tourism inventory under History and Culture — Church, Mosque or Temples.

The cathedral was originally built in 1787 by Jesuit-directed labor, destroyed by fire on 23 December 1798, and reconstructed and enlarged 1839–1855 under Fr. Valero de San Sebastián. It was elevated to cathedral status in 1941 as seat of the then-newly created Diocese of Tagbilaran/Bohol. The building sustained minor damage in the 15 October 2013 Bohol earthquake.

Location

Barangay Poblacion I, Tagbilaran City, Bohol. Tagbilaran is the provincial capital and the main entry point for visitors to Bohol via the Tagbilaran Airport or seaport. Poblacion I is a central barangay within the city. Street address: J.A. Clarin corner F. Sarmiento Street, Tagbilaran City (the church fronts Carlos P. Garcia Avenue, with this corner as an alternate/side-street reference point).

Nearby landmarks include Plaza Rizal Park, Beldia House/Villa Mercedes, Reyes House (Tandoc House), and Rocha-Suarez House — heritage properties that form a walkable cluster in the Tagbilaran city centre.

Getting There

Tagbilaran City centre is walkable from the seaport and reachable by tricycle from the airport. Barangay Poblacion I is in the central portion of the city.

Practical Info

• City: Tagbilaran City
• Barangay: Poblacion I
• Type: Catholic cathedral
• Diocese: Diocese of Tagbilaran (Diocese of Bohol) — this is the diocesan cathedral, elevated to that status in 1941
• Contact numbers reported for the parish office: (038) 411-2282 and (038) 411-3522
• Mass schedule: Sunday Masses run from 4:30 AM to 7:45 PM. Confession: Mon–Fri 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM.
• Feast day: May 1 (Feast of St. Joseph the Worker)
• Bell tower: four-story tower, construction started 1886 and completed 1891, housing six bells dated 1891–1907
• Interior: Neo-Classical main altar with gilded detailing; an 18th-century statue of St. Joseph the Worker at the main altar; twenty wooden religious images along the interior walls

What to Expect

The exterior presents a Neo-Romanesque façade with corbelled arches beneath the cornice, a porch over the main entrance, and tall semicircular arched windows. Visitors in Tagbilaran City for transit purposes can combine a cathedral visit with the nearby heritage houses and Plaza Rizal.

Notes

• St. Joseph the Worker is a Catholic feast established by Pope Pius XII in 1955, assigned to May 1 to provide a Catholic counterpoint to International Workers’ Day.
• Duplication flag: this file appears to describe the same building as the more thoroughly researched entity tagbilaran-cathedral-of-san-jose-bohol-philippines-com.md (“Cathedral of San Jose (St. Joseph the Worker),” Carlos P. Garcia Avenue, seat of the Diocese of Bohol) — both describe a cathedral dedicated to St. Joseph the Worker in central Tagbilaran, with the same 1798 fire and 1839–1855 reconstruction history. This file’s coordinates (9.6412, 123.8551) sit roughly 130 m from the other file’s coordinates (9.640261, 123.855981), consistent with the same building measured slightly differently rather than two distinct structures. The operator should confirm whether the two entities should be merged, and if so, retain the tagbilaran-cathedral-of-san-jose... file as canonical (materially more complete). This pass did not merge or delete either file.
• Source: BPTO Table 11 — Inventory of Tourist Attractions (2025 Bohol Tourism Profile)
• Cathedral of St. Joseph the Worker (Tagbilaran City, Bohol) – B.L.A.S.T., accessed 2026-07-17.