The Roman Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic announced that the Santa Barbara Church in the Colonial City will now officially be the Catedral Catrense, or the Santa Barbara de la Mar Cathedral. This means there will be two cathedrals in the capital city, both located in the Colonial City historic district. The other is the Santo Domingo Cathedral.
Metropolitan Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Monsignor Francisco Ozoria said the Santa Barbara Cathedral is now the seat of the newly-named Military Diocese.
A special mass was carried out on Tuesday, 4 February 2020 to celebrate the designation. The date commemorates the baptism day of the founding father of the Dominican Republic, Juan Pablo Duarte at that same church. His baptismal font is still there.
The church was restored by the Office of State Works Supervising Engineers (OISOE) at a cost of RD$160 million.
The church is dedicated to Santa Bárbara de Nicomedia. It is located at 406 Isabel la Católica Street corner General Gabino Puello Street, at the northern edge of the old wall that protected the first Spanish viceroyalty in the New World.
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Listin Diario
6 February 2020