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 The HOLY ROSARY MAJOR SEMINARY is the
center of theological studies and formation in the ecclesiastical province of
Cáceres,
comprising the Archdiocese of Cáceres, the dioceses
of Daet, Legazpi, Masbate, Sorsogon and Virac, and the
prelature of Libmanan, all within the Bikol Region in southern Luzon.
The first conciliar seminary in this part of the country was
canonically erected on March
7, 1797 during the incumbency of the Dominican
bishop, Domingo Collantes. However, many historians
contend that a century before this, there existed a Casa de Clerigos
in the episcopal capital. It was some kind of an ecclesiastical
college, which assumed the purpose of training the diocesan clergy. In fact,
Bishop De Luna testifies that from the tenure of Bishop González
to the incumbency of his immediate predecessor, Bishop Manuel Matos, OFM, more than forty diocesan priests had been ordained.
Since 1797 the
Naga seminary had been known as Seminario
Conciliar de Cáceres,
placed under the tutelage of its principal patroness, Our Lady of the Holy
Rosary, and secondary patrons, St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Bonaventure. In
1865, upon the invitation of Bishop Francisco Gainza,
OP, the Vincentians took over the administration of
the seminary, which now offered both priestly and lay education. The Seminario-Colegio, as it was known in this period, was
for about half century the only center of higher learning in the Luzon
south of Manila.The years that followed the World
Wars witnessed an increase in the number of vocations. The old building could
not accommodate all seminarians coming from the six provinces of the Bikol region and nearby provinces.
 In
response to this problem, a new building was constructed at the outskirts of
the city. On August
10, 1964, the HOLY ROSARY MAJOR SEMINARY was
blessed and inaugurated by Bishop Carlo Martini, then the delegate of the
Papal Nuncio. It stands as a monument of
Archbishop Pedro Santos
(1938-1965), the first archbishop of Cáceres. This
event marked the division of the seminary.
The HOLY ROSARY
MAJOR SEMINARY became the new home of the college and theology departments.
The old seminary, now known as the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary, continued to
house the high school department. With the phase out of the high school
department in 1990, however, the college department returned to its original
home, making the HOLY ROSARY MAJOR SEMINARY a center of theological studies
and formation for the ecclesiastical province of
Cáceres.
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