Tagbilaran Diocese Website

Baclayon was the first Bohol mission established by the Jesuits. This mission was undertaken upon the request of Doña Catalina de Bolaños, mother of the encomendero of the Island, Pedro de Gamboa. These Spaniards were the early administrators of Bohol, and were given the rights to the produce of the island on condition that they undertook the conversion of the inhabitants under their charge to Christianity.
When the first Christian Missionaries to Bohol, Father Juan de Torres and Father Gabriel Sanchez stepped on Baclayanon soil in November 17, 1596, they found a chapel for the encomienda’s Christian residents. In this place the first church built of wood was formally established by the two Jesuit priest to honor the Immaculate Conception. It became a parish in the year 1717. The present church was completed in 1727.
After the Jesuit’s expulsion in 1768, the Augustinian Recollects took over until 1898. When the Recollects left in 1898, the Filipino Diocesan priest took over. The first Filipino priest assigned in Baclayon was Fr. Juan Talaid Villamor (1898-1919) a native from this town. Being one of the earliest, the parish of Baclayon covered a large area, fragmented only in the 19th century when new parishes were created: Balilihan (1829), Alburquerque (1869), Corella (1884) and Sikatuna (1918).
Today, the parish has 26 chapels, a Catholic High School (1968) adjoined to the convent and an Ecclesiastical Museum (there is no definite date of establishment, but can be extrapolated between 1969-1970) located in the Jesuit section of the CASAPARROQUIAL adjacent to the right transept of the parish church. The Baclayon Church is one of the oldest and best preserved stone churches in the country today.
By the virtue of the Executive Order No. 260 on August 1, 1973 amended to order No. 357 January 14, 1974 and No. 1505 June 11, 1978; this Church was declared a National Historical Shrine on July 27, 1994.