The Seminario de San Vicente Ferrer (Saint Vincent Ferrer Seminary), also known as San Vicente Ferrer, Seminario or Saint Vincent, is a college-seminary of the Archdiocese of Jaro located in Iloilo City. It was founded in 1869 and is the first institution of higher education in the Western Visayas. It is the fifth oldest and the last seminary that was established during the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines. The Seminarians serve the nearby Jaro Cathedral which houses the miraculous statue of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Jaro, the official patron of Western Visayas.
The beginning On May 27, 1865, Pope Pius IX, in the bull of erection Qui Ab Initio of the Diocese of Jaro, insisted that a new bishop should be found and a seminary organized as soon as possible. The Archbishop of Manila, Gregorio Meliton Martinez carried the decree into effect, on October 10, 1867. At that time, Mariano Cuartero, the first Bishop of Jaro, was still in Spain, acting as General Procurator of the Dominican Order. He received episcopal ordination at the Dominican Seminary of Ocania, Spain, in November 1867, and was able to take possession of his diocese only on April 25, 1868. The new bishop founded the Diocesan Seminary where he could train good pastors for the different parishes, which at that time were almost entirely under the spiritual administration of the Augustinian friars, who were then regarded as the Fathers of the Faith in Panay.
On April 2, 1868, Cuartero arrived in Manila together with five Vincentian priests, three Brothers and sixteen Daughters of Charity. Having taken possession of the diocese, Cuartero immediately began his work of enlarging the parish of "La Candelaria" to be his cathedral church, the adaptation of the convent to be his residence and the foundation of the Diocesan Seminary in December 1869.
The Vicentian Fathers, upon the request of Cuartero, came to Jaro to organize and direct the Diocesan Seminary. The first Vincentian Fathers who took the direction of the Seminary of Jaro was made of three priests: Ildefonso Moral, rector, one of the greatest figures in the early history of the Vincentians in the Philippines; Aniceto Gonzales, who directed the construction of the seminary building and later, succeeded Moral as rector; and the newly ordained priest, Juan Miralda. Before the end of 1870, two young priests, Juan Jayme and Rufino Martin and a brother of Francisco Lopez joined the community. A year later Joaquin Jayme replaced his brother Juan who, was transferred to the Seminary of Cebu. At the death of Martin in 1873, Juan Jayme took over his work. Those were the founders of the Seminario Metropolitano de San Vicente Ferrer.
It is unknown who the first seminarians were because of the fire of 1906 which destroyed the seminary building and its records. It is known, however, that some of the first seminarians of Jaro had transferred to Cebu like the two "habitatis." They are so called because being students of Moral Theology, they already donned to the soutane. They were Basilio Albar and Silvestre Apura, who were ordained priests in Jaro in 1873 and 1874 respectively.
First seminary building
At first, the seminary was housed at the bishop's residence. The bishop busied himself with the idea of building up an adequate edifice for his seminary. The bishop begged and appealed to his people for help which they gave generously. Of special mention in this regard were the sisters Ana and Maria Sitchon, the priest Mariano Sitchon, and Dona Gregoria Hingson - all from Parian (now Molo). On March 11, 1871, the cornerstone was laid and the construction of the seminary begun under the direction of Aniceto Gonzales who acted as foreman. The priests and seminarians joined the workers during their free time. They carried the bricks from the riverbank where the bancas unloaded them to the place of work. Cuarteto was seen many time carrying the bricks with the seminarians. By October 1872, a good part of building was finished and ready for use. The seminary was transferred amidst the jubilation of all. In the same year, Gonzales had succeeded Moral as rector. He gave the construction a great support. The building was completed in November 1874.
The seminary, as completed in 1874, was of quadrilateral shape with dimensions 54 x 52 meters. In the center was the interior garden measuring 23 square meters. The first floor was made of stone and bricks while the second floor was made of hard wood. At that time it was undoubtedly the best seminary in the Philippines.
The Collegio-Seminario The new seminary soon became the most popular and first center of secondary education in the island. The number of students who requested to be allowed to take secondary education in the seminary but without any intention of pursuing priesthood was so many. Ildefonso Moral, who was reappointed rector in 1875, decided to open the seminary doors to lay students as had already been done in other diocesan seminaries. Thus the seminary lost its character of being a school solely and exclusively for priestly formation. But this adulteration of the Tridentine institution was partly due to certain historical circumstances.
The innovation introduced to seminary studies proved a success. The number of students increased year after year. The average enrolment from 1875 to 1891 was of some 150 interns and three hundred externs. Statistics found in the book "Exposicion General de las Islas Filipinas in Madrid, 1887-Memoria" show a total enrolment of 5,344 for the year 1875–1885. So, it became imperative the building. When the Cuartero died in 1884, Juan Miralda was appointed the rector and he undertook the new construction. It consisted of adding 46 meters to the already 52-meter-long right wing of the building. The actual building thus looked then like a letter "P". The expenses of this work added to those of 1874 made a total sum of some PhP 250,000.00.
The St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary was the first of the seminaries to be run by the Vincentian fathers to become a first class college, being fully incorporated in the University of Santo Tomas in 1891. Sometime in 1890, Bishop Arrue asked permission from Governor General Valeriano Weyler for the authorization to offer baccalaureate studies for those students who, having finished secondary education here, could not afford to pursue college studies in Manila. The request was granted without delay since the institution had complied with all the requirements of Art. 13 del Reglamento 1867. From then on and until 1897 when the first signs of Filipino-Spanish conflict started, the seminary enjoyed a flourishing life. Its average yearly enrollment was of some one hundred fifty interns and some six to seven hundred externs.
Revolution for Philippine independence The happy school days came to sudden stop with the outbreak of Filipino-Spanish conflict. The seminary became a military barrack of three nationalities: first by the Spanish soldiers, then by the Filipino forces and later by the American soldiers. By then, the seminarians had disbanded to the provinces and some of the fathers had sailed to Manila. On February 11, 1898, the American soldiers occupied the seminary. The seminary fathers headed by the priests Viera (rector), Napal, Zaro were ordered to abandon the seminary. They proceeded to Sta. Barbara and presented themselves with Gen. Martin Delgado, the revolutionary leader during the guerilla war. He was an alumnus of the seminario-colegio and because of this, he treated them cordially. Upon his advice, they continued their flight up north in search for a safe place to stay. By March 6, the fathers received instruction from Delgado to return to Iloilo. Since the American soldiers occupied the seminary, the fathers made their residence in Colegio de San Jose.
During the American Period Acting upon the request of the apostolic delegate, Bishop Andrés Ferrero y Malo de San José requested the fathers to return to the seminary. This they did in February 1902. Their first task was to condition the seminary for the opening of classes, for they had found it in disarray. As Mariano Napal said, if they wanted to sit down, they had to do it on the staircases.
The new fathers joined the community. By 1903 there were three new seminary fathers: Juan Villa, Rector, Pedro Santamaria, and Leandro Zaro. The arrival of Bishop Frederick Zadok Rooker in the diocese helped a lot in reorganizing the seminary life. With his help, the seminary was back to normal life at the beginning of the school year 1904–1905. Once more, the seminary knew days of prosperity under the American flag. The enrolment for the school year 1906-1907 was more than six hundred students. Later, Bishop Dougherty made more improvements. He spent some Php 40,000.000 for this project. His friends in America gave the funds spent for this improvements, which brought prosperity days to the seminary. From that time on, the yearly enrolment reached around 180 interns and some 600 externs.
Destruction of the first seminary building On the night of October 7, 1906, a sudden fire caused by a candle, left carelessly burning in the sacristy by the seminarian in charge of it, reduced the building into a heap of ashes. Nothing was saved but no-one was hurt among the seminarians and the fathers.
Second seminary building Two months after the fire, Rooker began reconstructing it, backed by the moral and financial support of his priests, the people of Jaro, his many friends in America, and Pope Pius X who sent substantial financial help. The seminary was housed temporarily in a spacious building of Don Teodoro Benedicto. In less than a year, three fifths of the building was completed, sufficient to house one hundred interns. The return of the seminary to its own house was completed on September 17, 1907. The next day, the atmosphere became dismal by misfortune. Early in the afternoon of the 18 September, Rooker was stricken by heart attack and died hours later.
Incumbency of Dennis Cardinal Dougherty
In 1908, the St. Vincent Ferrer seminary was blessed with two great benefactors: Bishop Dennis Joseph Dougherty, later Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia, who succeeded Rooker, and Mariano Napal, a man whose life ran parallel to that of the seminary. Both gave much attention to the seminary and brought the construction of the building to completion, on March 12, 1912. Dougherty spent some Php 40,000.000 for the rehabilitation of the seminary. His friends in America gave the funds spent for the improvements. The prosperous days brought about by the rebuilding of the seminary increased the yearly enrolment to 180 interns and around 600 externs.
The reform of the seminary programme In 1925, the St. Vincent Ferrer as a Seminario-Colegios was a distortion of the Tridentine institution. The Colegio drained the strength and vigor of the seminario. The constant contact of the seminarians with outsiders, and living together under the same roof of seminarians and lay students proved more harmful than beneficial to the seminary. As the number of the "Colegiales" grew by the year, so the number of seminarians decreased. According to Eliseo Rodriguez, who had been connected with the Seminary since 1911 has this to say, from 1911 to 1925 the Jaro Seminary had a population of 30 to 40 seminarians and some five to six hundred "colegiales".