St. Mary's Cathedral

Roman Catholic cathedral — symbol of Marawi's small Christian minority

St. Mary's Cathedral is the seat of the Prelature of Marawi and the only Catholic church in the city centre — a single-spired pink-and-white building on a small plot near the old market. It serves the Christian minority (around 5% of Marawi's population, many of them migrants from elsewhere in the Philippines) and is a visible symbol of the city's official commitment to religious coexistence.

The cathedral was looted and set on fire during the 2017 siege and has since been rebuilt. The reopening in 2019, attended by Cardinal Tagle and President Duterte, was a deliberately public statement about the future of the city. Open for Mass and visitors during the day.

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On the first day of the 2017 siege, militants stormed the cathedral, took the priest and a dozen parishioners hostage, and burned the interior. Most of the hostages were eventually freed; Father Teresito Soganub was rescued by special forces after four months in captivity.