LOCAL FEATURE Mt. Carmel Cathedral: A celebration of people

When the construction of Mount Carmel Church started in 1947, the largest monetary donation came from the U.S. Marine to the tune of $5,000 which served as seed money. That donation was more of a war compensation from the U.S. Government after bombing the old church in Garapan. Crooner Bing Crosby pitched in some $50.

But both donations were overshadowed by the treasures put in by the local population.

Before the final blessings were made during Sunday masses, a litany of 25 to 50 cents donations were acknowledged.

Saturday was also proclaimed as Happy Labor day for the church. Men were asked to render free work in assisting the few laborers who were paid to do the construction.

“When the church was nearing completion, Father Ferdinand asked those with vehicles to gather pebbles from where the Coral Ocean Point now is located. Weapons carrier, trucks and jeeps were driven inside the church to fill its ground,” remembers Bishop Thomas Camacho, who was then an altar boy.

As the adage puts in “this is the house which people built” — the same can be said for Mount Carmel Church.

It witnessed a complete turnaround from the faithful, who earlier questioned the choice of its location. From Garapan, the center of Saipan moved to Chalan Kanoa where the Chamorro village was founded by the Americans after the war. Its boundaries ended where the Mercedarian Sisters were (now Sister Remedios Pre-school) which
questioned the construction of a church outside the village.

“Fr. Ferdinand perhaps had the vision that eventually the whole island will open up. That’s what happened,” says Bishop Camacho.

After two years, the Mount Carmel Church was up without pews. The parish had to scout for pews from the chapels abandoned by American forces. But this wasn’t new, lumbers were also salvaged from U.S. warehouses to augment the resources for the construction of the church.

By the time it was dedicated on December 14, 1949, the bishop was on Guam completing his high school. However, his faith brought him back to Mount Carmel Church and took the helm in directing the future.

The first major face-lift came in 1984 when he was ordained as a Bishop, while the Mount Carmel Church became a Cathedral. Ten years ago, its wooden rafters were threatened by termite infestation and needed $120,000 to fix it. Its coffers only had half of the amount to commence the project. A report from an architectural firm also told the Bishop that the facade was due to collapse and needed a quick fix.

“Money kept pouring in. People just donated money. One time we had a raffle, it went up to $100,000,” he says.

Before he knew it, the flooring was changed to marble and a new lighting fixture was installed. The front park was also completed.

“That all cost us $1 million and we made it without borrowing money from anybody.”

When the younger generation started referring to it as the “hot church”, he approached 14 people and raised $14,000 to install its air-conditioning system.

The future holds the promise for new requirements in maintaining the sanctuary for the faithful. In its tradition, support will come in handy.

“The parishioners are very generous. Actually you put your money where your heart is. This is now the symbol of the Northern Marianas. When our people go away, they always compare that church to their church here on Saipan.”