Saint James the Apostle Parish Church 4.42

The Saint James the Apostle Parish Church also known as Santiago Apostol Parish Church, Saint James the Great Parish Church or commonly known as Paete Church is the only Roman Catholic church in Paete, Laguna, Philippines. Its patron saint is Saint James the Apostle and his feast is celebrated every 25 July. The church is known for its huge and exqusite collection of images depicting the Passion of Christ, its century-old paintings and wooden images of saints (or poon). The current parish priest is Reverend Father Noel B. Conopio.HistoryPaete was established as town in 1580 by Franciscan priest, Fray Juan Plasencia under the patronage of Saint Lawrence. Due to the scarcity of religious men, it was annexed to the visita of Lumban until October 20, 1600 and to Pangil until 1602. The first parish priest of Paete, Fray Pedro de Buenaventura was appointed in 1602. The first stone church and convent were built by Paete natives under the supervision of Fray Andres de Puertellanoin 1646 but it was later destroyed by an earthquake in 1717. A new stone church was started the same year under Fray Francisco de la Fuente. It was completed in 1840 under the term of Fray Luis de Nambroca. The church and convent was again destroyed by the 1880 Luzon earthquake. Father Gregorio Martin built a temporary small church of 33m by 13.2m by 8.6m. In 1884, the church was rebuilt under Father Pedro Galiano, now facing the Laguna lake but this was again destroyed by another earthquake in August 20, 1937. The church served as a dungeon and torture house to the people of Paete during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II.