Cathedral - Basilica of the Sweet Name of Mary

Marian Advocation of Hagåtña (Guam)
Recognized by the Church

La Cathedral - Basilica of the Sweet Name of Mary se alza en Hagåtña (Aolana)Guam, and is the headquarters of the archdiocese of Agaña. Su advocación, el Sweet Name of MaryIt's an explicit Marian title.

Main data

Origin and history

La Cathedral - Basilica of the Sweet Name of Mary se alza en Hagåtña (Aolana)Guam, and is the headquarters of the archdiocese of Agaña. Su advocación, el Sweet Name of MaryIt's an explicit Marian title.

The temple rises in the place where the primera iglesia católica of the central area of Hagåtña: a small wooden chapel and leaves erected in 1669 by the missionaries (mention is made of a missionary of Filipino origin, kapampangan), at the beginning of the evangelization of the island. This continuity of location, maintained over the centuries, makes this place a founding point of the Catholic faith in Guam.

El present temple started to build on 1955 y se concluyó en 1958after the destruction of the old church during the World War II. Today it is the main Catholic temple on the island and a symbolic image of the Church's presence in Guam.

The image and the sanctuary

The cathedral-basilica is, above all, the seat of the archdiocese of Agaña and the highest-ranking temple on the island, rebuilt in the mid-20th century on the site of the first chapel of 1669.

His devotional life is marked in a very special way by the image of Santa Marian Kamalen (Our Lady of Camarín), patron of Guam and of the Mariana Islands, that the cathedral custody. The image, temporarily moved for conservation reasons, returned to the cathedral in 2020, reaffirming itself as a religious and identity symbol for Guam Catholics. The history, the tradition of finding at sea and the detailed devotion of this image are reflected in its own chart (Virgin of Camarín, Santa Marian Kamalen), to which we refer not to repeat here what is exposed.

They do not contain, in the accessible documentation, other unique iconographic or artistic details of the temple beyond its cathedral-basilica status reconstructed in 1955-1958.

Sponsorship and coronation

The cathedral is dedicated to Sweet Name of Mary and is the metropolitan seat of the archdiocese of Agaña, which gives it its main ecclesial rank. In addition to the dignity of basilicaas it appears in its own name as a cathedral-basilica.

El patronazgo de Guam and the Mariana Islands is particularly associated with the image of Santa Marian Kamalen that the temple custody, the development of which is dealt with in its corresponding file. On a canonical coronation in the sources consulted, there is no reference with year, decree and pontifical delegate; it is therefore necessary to state that does not contain a documented canonical coronation referred to the cathedral as such.

Party and devotion

The great celebration linked to this temple is the December 8 partythe Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, in which the image of Santa Marian Kamalen, guarded in the cathedral, comes out in solemn procession through the streets of Hagåtña on a chariot adorned with flowers. It is one of Guam's most massive religious events (its detailed account is on the Santa Marian Kamalen tab).

The cathedral-basilica is center of the sacramental and liturgical life of the whole island and heart of the archdiocese of Agaña. The Pope San Juan Pablo II he visited Guam on 22 February 1981, when he specifically referred to Santa Marian Kamalen, a sign of the weight of this devotion in the local Church. On the other hand, there are no festive traditions of the temple other than those already mentioned.

Link to the Rosary

The sources consulted do not mention a specific and documented link between this cathedral-basilica and the prayer of the Rosary as a unique practice of the temple; there is no fellowship of the Rosary formally linked to the headquarters.

However, in the deep popular religiosity of the Chamorro people, of Spanish and Filipino roots, Marian devotion occupies a central place, and the Rosary is one of its most natural expressions. A temple dedicated to Sweet Name of Mary and guardian of the image of Saint Marian Kamalen invites from him to contemplate, with Mary, the mysteries of the life of Christ, so that the Rosary is offered as a simple path of prayer and trust in the intercession of the Mother venerated by all of Guam.