Not many people may know this, but the Province of Bulacan has 22 religious sites recognized by the local government unit (LGU). That’s 22… although there may be more because what are usually popularly advertised are venues only of Roman Catholicism.
All the same, this should highlight to all that, when you’re a tourist in the Province of Bulacan, you may want to focus your tours to churches, churches and more churches. Yeah, natural offerings like caves and falls are there; but infrastructure issues make them hard to access. Water parks are often overcrowded. And the malls… well, they’re just malls that make oligarchs richer. The churches, though, they abound.
@outragemag Religious sites as tourist destinations? In #Bulacan, we #LGBT checked the Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon
This is how – after aimlessly wandering for hours – we discovered the Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon.
Now… this will sound like a religious history lesson, but here goes, anyway.
This place in Bocaue, Bulacan has various names – e.g. as the Parish of Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, and as the Diocesan Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, though people just call it as the “Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim”. This is a Roman Catholic church under the Diocese of Malolos.
Nasa name naman that the patron saint of the church was the first Korean Christian priest and then a martyr, Andrew Kim Tae-gon. Born in the 19th century, Kim actually lived as a seminarian in Lolomboy in Bocaue. In Joseon, he was with a group of French missionaries who converted Korean people to Christianity. He was eventually arrested and then executed in 1846. Pope Pius XI beatified him in 1925, and Pope John Paul II canonized him in May 1984.
There are various buildings in the Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, which was completed in 2015. The main building has a chapel and a room containing info and artifacts related to the namesake patron saint. There’s another chapel beside the main building, and then a walkway leading to a mini-park, gazebo, and the convent of the Sisters of St. Andrew.
If you’re religious… or at least spiritual, this may be an okay alternative place for you to worship.
But this place may be said to also show the challenges of keeping the faithful… faithful. As the caretaker/parking aide/security guard/vendor for the day of our visit stated: “Walang pera.” And so the existing buildings aren’t well-kept, with signs of neglect actually apparent; and there are incomplete buildings here, as if waiting not to be finished, but be swallowed by nature.
Now… if you’re in Bulacan and are keen to see non-traditional Roman Catholic churches, then a visit to the Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon may be worth it. Not much to do here, truth be told, but… yeah, at least you can tick this off na sa list of Bulacan’s religious sites for you to visit.
As FYI: the main gate of the shrine is closed, and the street signs will guide you how to go to the venue through a narrow road. Magdasal ka na lang na wala kang kasalubong, or else… good luck.
The Shrine of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon is at 623 Mendoza St., Lolomboy, Bocaue, Bulacan. It is open from 8AM to 5PM every Tuesday to Sunday. Entrance fee is ₱20 per person; and parking fee is ₱20 for car and ₱10 for motorcycle. For more information, contact (+639) 334133957 or (+639) 275147365.
