Immaculate Conception Parish Church (Concepcion)

The Santuario de la Inmaculada Concepcion (transl. Shrine of the Immaculate Conception), also known as Immaculate Conception Parish Church and Concepcion Church, is a late 19th-century, Baroque Roman Catholic church located at Brgy. San Nicolas Poblacion, Concepcion, Tarlac, Philippines. The parish church, under the aegis of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tarlac.

Concepcion Church
Santuario de la Inmaculada Concepcion
Immaculate Conception Parish Church
Church facade in 2023
Concepcion Church Location in Luzon Show map of Luzon Concepcion Church Location in the Philippines Show map of Philippines
15°19′27″N 120°34′35″E
Location	Tarlac
Country	Philippines
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Former name(s)	Immaculate Conception Parish Church
Status	Parish church
Dedication	Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception
Dedicated	1866
Past bishop(s)	Bishop Emeritus Florentino Ferrer Cinense, D.D., Ph.D.
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Architectural type	Church building
Style	Neo-Romanesque
Completed	1893
Specifications
Materials	Brick, mortar, gravel, cement, steel, concrete
Administration
Province	San Fernando
Archdiocese	San Fernando
Diocese	Tarlac
Clergy
Bishop(s)	Most Rev. Fr. Enrique Macaraeg, D.D.
Priest in charge	Rev. Fr. O'neal Sanchez
Assistant priest(s)	Rev. Fr. Randy Minion Rev Fr. Ador Castroverde

Parish history

History suggests two origins for the town of Concepcion. First, Concepcion was already an established parish separate from its matrix in Magalang, Pampanga on August 9, 1866. The second story is that it was created in 1860 from the following barrios of Magalang: Matondo, Maycanalo, San Martin, Bucsit, San Juan and Garlit.^[1]

Architecture

Church interior in 2023

The stone and brick convent was said to have been erected by Father Guillermo Masnou in 1880 while the present-day church was built by Father Fernando Vasquez in 1893. Its facade was described as being identical to that of the pre-war church of Tarlac. It is predominantly Neo-Romanesque in design with the presence of the recessed arch on the central part of the facade (marred by the concrete porte cochere). The facade is bare of ornamentation save for several circular and semicircular arched windows. Two, three-tiered, bell towers rise on both sides of the facades.^[1]