San Antonio Village had been established and growing community since the actual year of the Mount Carmel cathedral’s dedication. San Antonio Church was the former Naval Air Station Kobler Field Chapel used by the San Antonio faithful community since 1949. The structure, through made of wood and other scrapped materials, was a beautiful shelter for worship. Considering the military’s various religious groups of recruits, the Church was not specifically identified as Roman Catholic. The Chapel was therefore visited by other religious groups as well.
Sometime in 1951, Commissioner Jose Salas Sablan requested to move San Antonio Church to a Quonset house formerly used as a Naval Air Station Administration. This building was located, at the time, exactly at the present Sisters of Mercy Convent in San Antonio Village. The foundation was L-shaped and slightly bigger than the Naval Air Station Chapel. Approval for conversion of the quonset house into a temporary Church was granted. Long after the Chapel’s move to the quonset house, Commissioner Tomas Palacios Sablan expressed the need for a bigger, more permanent Church. Plans and continous discussion were underway almost immediately.
Alas, construction began under the leadership and guidance of Commissioner Tomas Sablan who initiated the project of San Antonio Church. Some skilled carpenters were paid for their special services; otherwise, everyone else contributed happy labor in many ways ranging from construction work to cooking meals for the workers. The project was later handed over to new Commissioner, Fernando M. Benavente. Finally, on April, 1968, a long awaited seventeen year old dream become a reality. The San Antonio Church was completed and dedicated a Parish. This same Church dedicated thirty years ago still stands at its third location since its move from the Naval Air Station. The Church continues to need improvement, and to this date, the faithful community of San Antonio continues to work hard to ensure the preservation of the precious structure which forefathers worked so hard to accomplish.
One of the first to spiritually guide the San Antonio community was Reverend Father Fernando Stippich and Father Canice who served the Parish in the fifties, followed by Father Arnold Bendowski and Father James in sixties, and Father Knute and Father Antonio C. Cruz in the seventies. Monsignor Vicente Martinez was assigned to San Antonio Parish on April 28, 1980, following the passing of Father Antonio Cruz. Other priests on a loan from the Philippines followed: Father Manuel Corcuera assigned on March 7, 1991, then Father Roque Bitancur assigned on August 23, 1991.
