The beginning of St. Jude Thaddeus Church on Saipan at its present location in Koblerville was from a family of immeasurably strong faith at a time of great sadness and fear. His Excellency Bishop Tomas A. Camacho had been inquiring on property in the Koblerville area around 1988 in hopes to erect at least a Chapel for the faithful community of Koblerville.
At around that same time, a son was born to Julie and John S. Del Rosario. The ‘Miracle Baby’, John Boy, was born with Tronchus Type B, a congenital heart defect. John Boy was in and out of hospitals and surgeries beyond Saipan and Hawaii. His parents were in such pain and torment to see their young child experience such ordeal, they felt so helpless and wished they could fight for his life for him. But John Boy must have felt their love and faith for God and for him, for it was just those genuine belief that gave him strength and the will to want life. St Jude Thaddeus, so heard by Julie and John as Patron of hopeless cases, was always echoed for John Boy in all of his parent’s prayers.
John Del Rosario had piece of property in Koblerville gifted to him by his parents, but because it was located inland from the main roadside of Koblerville, he asked his brother David, whose land was on the roadside, to exchange lots. David, also with a strong faith in God, immediately agreed to the exchange. In 1988, John Del Rosario deeded E.A. Lot No. 833-1 of 1,792 sq. meters to Bishop Tomas A. Camacho for a Chapel in honor of St. Jude Thaddeus.
With the support and close guidance of His Excellency Bishop Tomas A. Camacho, Monsignor Vicente Martinez was motivated to finalize plans and begin the construction of St. Jude Mission Church. The small Church was finally completed and opened to the faithful in 1989. And so it was – Monsignor Vicente Martinez’s dream of a Church for the community of Koblerville was finally a reality. But work did not stop there. In less than five years since its establishment, a request was submitted to the Bishop to upgrade St. Jude Mission to St. Jude Mission to St. Jude Parish. On November 19, 1995, St. Jude Mission was blessed marking its dedication year as Parish.
The growing community of Koblerville occasioned the need to build a bigger church. Fr. Michael Martin initiated the project and it was during the time of Fr. Jose David Jr. that fundraising activities went full swing. When Fr. Joseph Billoti, SJ was assigned as the pastor, the construction of the new church began until its completion and eventually its dedication on October 28, 2001. On that very historic day, the main celebrant was no other than the Most Rev. Tomas A. Camacho, D.D. with Rev. Fr. James Benavente of the Archdiocese of Agana, Guam as the homilist. Today, the imposing and circular Parish Church of St. Jude stands as the landmark not only of the mushrooming commercial buildings and houses at Koblerville but also of the strong faith of the parishioners.
