Address
Brgy. Taruc, Socorro
Bucas Grande Island, Surigao del Norte
E-mail: omphaugustinians@gmail.com
Website: https://omphaugustinians.weebly.com/
Facebook Page: Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish Socorro
About the Parish
Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish, Socorro, Surigao del Norte was under stewardship of the SVD Fathers for many years. Rev. Fr. Alejandrino A. Plaza, SVD was the first parish priest assigned in the parish in 1986. He encouraged and motivated the parishioners to actively participate in the different church activities, projects and programs.
The year 2001 marked the beginning of another epoch in the history of the parish. The friars of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) took over the pastoral administration of the parish, which was started by the SVD missionaries. The first OSA parish priest assigned in Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish was Rev. Fr. Sisinio A. Paderog, OSA with Rev. Fr. Andrew P. Batayola, OSA as the parochial vicar. When Fr. Andrew left in 2002 for Australia for further spiritual studies, Rev. Fr. Pacifico “Jun” Nohara, OSA assumed the post as the parochial vicar. The initial task of the OSA missionaries was to reorient the Catholic faithful whose social and spiritual life need to be reinvigorated.
The OSA friars through the leadership of Fr. Sin with the assistance of Fr. Jun and the cooperation, material support and donations from the parishioners, a new and beautiful Catholic Church was constructed and finished. The new church is transferred in Brgy. Taruc from Brgy. Navarro. When Fr. Jun left for a mission abroad in South Korea in 2004, Rev. Fr. Donato E. Ellezar, OSA was assigned as the parochial vicar.
The old church, located in Brgy. Navarro, was renovated and improved. It is now called San Agustin Pastoral Center (SAP-C). Something and spiritual activities of the parish are held in the center. Others who want to avail the place for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and others are allowed with minimal rental for maintenance. However, political conventions/rallies and religious activities on non-Catholic religions are prohibited per approved implementing rules and regulations formulated for purposes of clarity.
Fr. Sin and Fr. Donutz knew that the old convent should be demolished and replaced because the termites are slowly eating the structure and it is already dilapidated. Hence, a new three-storey convent is constructed at the site where the old convent is located. The construction work was still halfway when the Augustinians effected their reorganization and reshuffling last May 2008. Fr. Sin and Fr. Donutz were transferred to their new assignments. Fr. Sin became the parish priest of the mission station in Gubat, Sorsogon, while Fr. Donutz became the prior and novice master of the novices in the Augustinian Novitiate and Prayer House in Cebu. Fr. Benjamin Unabia, OSA became the second parish priest of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish and Rev. Fr. Leo Mario F. Singco, OSA was the parochial vicar. Fr. Ben and Fr. Leomar were very compatible and they were working hard to finish the construction of the convent. In 2009, the convent was finished.
The presence of Fray Ericson M. Borre, OSA and Fray Vincent Liwag, OSA had helped much in the pastoral work of the parish. By that time, Fray Ericson was already a solemn professed friar and became the third member of the community. Fray Vincent was at that time on his pastoral exposure for six months. Fray Ericson, who is very good in music and plays musical instruments very well, has helped strengthen the church’s choir and other related activities. On the other hand, Fray Vincent has equally done a magnificent job assigned to him by the parish priest. (By Warlito Noguerra)
1961-1989: The Parish of Socorro
The Beginnings:
Before 1961, the Roman Catholics in Socorro joined the Philippine Independent Church (IFI) because there was no Catholic Church yet in the locality.
The restoration of the Catholic Church in Socorro began only in 1961 when a cooperative movement called “Unitary” was launched. The fore-runners of this movement were mostly Catholics headed by Mr. Mesias Mahomoc. And the restoration of the Catholic Church was one of the agenda of the movement. Then, in the following years a Catholic chapel was constructed right in the poblacion. Fr. Jose van Asperen, MSC, was the one who blessed the chapel since he was the parish priest of Dapa at that time; and Socorro was still under the Dapa Parish.
One November 19, 1964, the Catholic chapel was destroyed by supertyphoon “Louis”. So by 1965, a new chapel was constructed right on the spot where the present Catholic Church is erected (1989). During this time Sunday services were handled by a lay-liturgist, since the parish priest of Dapa could visit only once a month.
Sometime in 1979, the present Catholic Church was constructed under the financial sponsorship of Fr. John Rutgers, SVD, the parish priest of Dapa at that time. The financial counterpart of the Catholic community in the locality was very minimal. The construction was supervised by Mr. Dionisio Ruaya and Mr. Warlito Noguerra. And it was Fr. Eduardo Rocha, SVD, who blessed the newly finished Church sometime in 1980. After Fr. Rocha, came Fr. Gil Espuelas, SVD, then Fr. Briggs Angngasing, SVD, who is the present parish priest of Dapa.
The Recent:
In November 1985, the MC Brothers (Missionaries of Charity) of Mother Theresa of Calcutta arrived in Socorro in order to survey the place of a possibility of opening a mission in the island. Bro. Francis Montalbo, MC and Bro. Jose Maria Sadullosa, MC, started the pioneering works of the MC’s in Bucas Grande Island. The main house of the brothers was located in Brgy. Pamosaingan, 7 kilometers from the Poblacion of Socorro.
It was only on February 5, 1986 that Fr. Alejandrino Plaza Jr., SVD arrived in Socorro to be its first staying priest. By June 19, 1986, on the occasion of its town fiesta, the parish was officially established by Msgr. Miguel C. Cinches, SVD, DD, the bishop of Surigao, and he officially confirmed the appointment of Fr. Plaza, SVD, as the parish priest. Together with the MC brothers, Fr. Plaza stayed at the house of Mrs. Concepcion Lagapa while still looking for a lot where they could build a convent. They stayed in the house of Mrs. Lagapa for a year before they were able to purchase a house and lot just right in the vicinity of the town. After several months of repair and remodeling, the house was finally blessed on February 2, 1987 by Msgr. Vicente Uy, SVD, the Episcopal Vicar of Siargao Island, and it became the rectory of the parish priest of the Roman Catholic Church of Socorro.
Since then, the number of churchgoers increased from ten to thirty, sixty, and a hundred. Those Catholic faithful who were dormant for the past years suddenly became alive and renewed their spirit thru active involvement in the community. To prove this observation, the inhabitants of Barangay Helen, who were once under the Philippine Independent Church, expressed their desire to return to the Catholic Church. And in their sincerity, they constructed the chapel made of local materials so that they could have a place of worship every Sunday.
With these graces, the Catholics are still a minority in Socorro, but it is growing. At present, there are only five barrios where Catholic communities exist. Pamosaingan is the barrio where one can find the biggest Catholic population in the whole Bucas Grande Island, formerly under Numancia (now Del Carmen). And in each of the barrios the lay-liturgists are ably taking turns in taking care of the Sunday celebrations. Aside from the lay-liturgists, other organizations are also actively involved in the parish, such as the CWL, Catechists, Charismatics, Catholic Faith Defenders (CFD), Apostolado, and Youth.
The thrust of the parish is in line with the Diocesan thrust, that is to build a Christian community openly and explicitly proclaiming and witnessing to the presence, reign and victory of Jesus in Bucas Grande Island.
1939-1989: The Golden Years – Diocese of Surigao, Souvenir Program
