St. Jerome's Parish, Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya

It was so difficult for the missionaries to pacify and evangelized the town of Bagabag because of the ferocity of the early inhabitants, the early inhabitants, the Gaddangs,. With help of the military troops, the missionaries penetrated Bagabag. In 1743, it was accepted as an ecclestical mission by the Dominican Order and its first missionary is Fr. Louis Sierra, OP. Bagabag had a church which was made of stones and bricks. Its patron was St. Jerome, which remains to this day. It was Fr. Alejandro Vidal, Op, who started the construction of the church and convent in 1777 and was later finished by Fr. Juan del Rey, OP. However, this church was destroyed during the Second World War. Like in all other parishes

in the diocese, the administration of the parish in Bagabg was also given to the CICM (Congregatio Imaculati Cordis Mariae) missionaries by the year 1908. Fr. Achilles Degryse became the first CICM to be assigned in this parish. With him and the other CICM missionaries, they managed the parish by constructing great edifices, employing livelihood programs and looking after the needs of the people. Rev. Fr. Norbert Lietaert, CICM established the parochial school to provide the basic education of the faithful. By the year 1962, the modern church was constructed through the initiative of Fr. Marcelo Vantomme, CICM. Truly, with the help of their benefactors from Belgium and other foreign countries, these missionaries gathered the people of Bagabag to their fold.