Imus Cathedral

In 1616, the Augustinian Recollects arrived in Imus and established a convent. The parish of Imus started as a chapel-of-ease in Brgy. Toclong, a sub-parish (visita) of Cavite Viejo (now Kawit, Cavite). Recollect Father Pedro de San Buenaventura petitioned the government to convert Imus into an independent municipality in 1774. Imus, though, did not become a separate town and parish until October 3, 1795.[4] Its poblacion (town center) and a provisional church was first established in an area currently known as Brgy. Bayan Luma (Tagalog for 'Old Town'). The parish was under the order of the Augustinian Recollects with Francisco de Santiago, O.A.R., its first assigned priest.[1]

During the leadership of Fr. Nicolas Becerra, who served from 1821 to 1840, he advocated the move of the town center to Brgy. Balangon, its present location. The construction of the parish church of Imus on the new location was started in 1823 using forced labor. The structure was made from stone and bricks.[1] Its facade was patterned after the fifth Manila Cathedral by Fr. Juan de Uguccioni, which existed from 1760 to 1852.[5]

The façade of Imus Cathedral was probably designed after the fifth incarnation of the Manila Cathedral (above) by Uguccioni.

The early fathers were preoccupied with not just religious matters but also of economic concerns. The friars gradually bought parcels of land while some of these lands were donated by rich families. The Recollects were the first ones to buy parcels of land beginning in 1666 and their haciendas came to being in 1812. These areas, comprising the Hacienda de San Juan de Imus or the Hacienda de Imus (Imus Estate), grew to include the whole towns of Imus, Dasmariñas, and Brgy. Binakayan in Kawit. The estate house of the hacienda, or the house of the friars, was located along Imus River (at the present day Cuartel) at the southern end of the Bridge of Isabel II, a Spanish bridge built by the priest-engineers of the Recollects.[6] Citizens of Imus were required to pay rent to live and tilled the lands of Imus.

The Hacienda de Imus was sold by the Recollect Corporation on March 31, 1894 to the Fomento de la Agricultura de Filipinas (Promotion of Agriculture in the Philippines), a corporation in Madrid, for 4,000,000 pesetas. It was later sold to the British Manila Estates Company, which eventually sold it to the U.S. controlled Philippine government for $1,045,000 in U.S. currency for distribution to the Filipinos, to win their favor, and to pacify the revolutionaries.[6][7] The Church of Imus became secular in 1897.[1]

• Parish Youth Ministry
• Ministry of Altar Servers
• Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
• Lay Ministers of the Word
• Our Lady of the Pillar Parish Music Ministry
  • includes: Tinig ng Katedral (est. 1980), Himig Batingaw (est. 1978), etc.

• Ministry of Cantors

89.5 FM frequency is used by the Parish to broadcast Parish activities such as the recitation of the Rosary for the traditional Good Friday procession. Daily Mass, Vigil and Sunday Masses, as well as Masses for holy days of obligation celebrated in the Cathedral are also transmitted live through the same frequency.

The current Bishop of Imus is the Most Rev. Reynaldo G. Evangelista, O.F.S., D.D., previously bishop of the Diocese of Boac and a native of Batangas, who was appointed by Pope Francis on April 8, 2013, his first pontifical appointment in the Philippines. He replaced Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle (whose paternal ancestry is from Imus) after his installation as the Archbishop of Manila in December 12, 2011. Bishop Evangelista was installed as the fifth Bishop of Imus on June 5, 2013.[2]

The Historical marker of the Cathedral placed by the National Historical Institute in 2006.

• Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish – Bucandala
• Mary Mother of God Parish – Malagasang II
• Our Lady of Fatima Parish – Anabu I
• Our Lady of Fatima Parish – Anabu II
• Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral-Parish (Jubilee Church) – Poblacion (City Proper)
• St. James the Greater Parish – Buhay na Tubig
• St. Martha Parish – Greengate, Malagasang II

• Mary, Mother of the Good Shepherd Chapel (Palico)
• Our Lady of the Pillar Chapel (Bayan Luma)
• St. Peregrine Chapel (Toclong)
• San Roque Chapel (Pag-asa)
• San Juan Bautista Chapel (Tanzang Luma)
• Our Lady of Fatima Chapel (Villa Leticia)
• Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (Southern City Subdivision)
• San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel (Narra Homes Subdivision)