In 1628, Sorsogon, the present area in the city's southern coast, was made an independent parish under the patronage of Saint Anthony of Padua.

[1][2][4] Fray Francisco San Diego was the first parish priest of Sorsogon which at the time had a church made of nipa and bamboo.

[6] Secular priests from the Diocese of Nueva Caceres took over the parish administration of Sorsogon in 1680 before the term of Bishop Andres Gonzales.

[5] An earthquake on March 21, 1840, levelled the church which left 165 deaths, 15 of which were buried alive in the ruins.

[8] The said damage prompted Bishop Alberto in the same year to reconstruct the cathedral in neo-Gothic architectural style.

Typhoons Milenyo and Reming in 2006 damaged the church which again prompted the then Bishop Arturo Bastes to reconstruct the cathedral in its current style.