Saint Andrew the Apostle Church

The Saint Andrew the Apostle Parish is a Roman Catholic Church in Bel-Air Village, Makati, Philippines. It is one of the known Modern Edifices designed by Leandro V. Locsin in Makati. This Parish is dedicated to Saint Andrew the Apostle, the patron saint of Metro Manila and Bel-Air Village. Its Parish Territories are Bel-Air Village (Barangay Bel-Air), San Miguel Village (Barangay Poblacion), Rizal Village and Santiago Village (Barangay Valenzuela), and Salcedo village (Barangay Bel-Air).Church DescriptionBuilt by National Artist for Architecture Leandro Locsin in 1968, the design of this parish church in Bel-Air Makati is symbolic of the manner the martyr died crucified on an X-shaped cross. The butterfly shaped floor plan emanates from this cruciform. Many other symbolic features mark the tent-like structure, including the giant chandelier over the altar which serves as a halo over the copper cross by National Artist for Visual Art, Vicente Manansala.HistoryThe proposal of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish began in 1965 when a group of residents belonging to the villages of San Miguel and Bel-Air dreamed of having a parish that they could call their own.The community did not have to wait long. Don Andres Soriano Jr. offered to have a church built in honor of his late father Don Andres Sr. who was loved and respected by the people of San Miguel Corporation. Thus, the parish was named after the patriarch’s namesake, St. Andrew the Apostle.With the approval of the establishment and formation of the parish by Rufino Cardinal Santos came the appointment of Msgr. Emilio Bularan as the first Parish Priest.