Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila
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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (popularly known as Archdiocese of Manila, formerly known as Diocese of Manila) is a particular church or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It is also considered as the primal see of the country.
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[edit] History
The original Diocese of Manila was canonically erected on February 6, 1579 encompassing all of the Spanish colonies in Asia. It was a suffragan of Mexico. The diocese was elevated to an archdiocese on August 14, 1595. Over the course of Philippines history and the growth of Catholicism in the region, the Archdiocese of Manila carved new dioceses from its territory.
On August 14,1595, Pope Clement VIII raised the Diocese to the status of an Archdiocese and created three new dioceses as suffragan to Manila: Nueva Caceres, Nueva Segovia, and Cebu. With the creation of these new dioceses, the territory of the Archdiocese was reduced to the city of Manila and the ten civil provinces near it. Rizal, Bulacan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, Bataan, Zambales, and Mindoro.
On April 10, 1910, the province of Mindoro was established as an independent diocese by virtue of a Decretum Consistoriale executed by Pope Pius XI implementing the Bull “Quae Mari Sinico” of Pope Leo XIII. Also on that date saw the creation of the Diocese of Lipa (later known as the Archdiocese of Lipa) which had jurisdiction over the provinces of Batangas, Quezon Province, and some parts of Masbate.
Eighteen years later, on May 19, 1928, Pope Pius XI established the Diocese of Lingayen, diving Manila and Nueva Segovia. In this division 26 parishes were separated from Manila.
On December 11, 1948, the Apostolic Constitution, “Probe noscitur” further divided the Archdiocese of Manila by separating the northern part of the Archdiocese and establishing it as the Diocese of San Fernando.
On November 25, 1961, the Archdiocese of Manila was again divided. The civil provinces of Bulacan in the north and Cavite in the south were separated from the archdiocese. Bulacan became the Diocese of Malolos and Cavite became the Diocese of Imus.
The Eastern part of the province of Rizal was removed from the Archdiocese of Manila on January 24, 1983. Fifteen towns and two barangays were separated from Manila to form the diocese of Antipolo.
In 2002, two more dioceses were carved out of the Archdiocese of Manila. These are the Diocese of Novaliches in the north and the Diocese of Paranaque in the south also comprising the cities of Las Pinas and Muntinlupa.
In 2003, by the recommendation of the late Cardinal Jaime Sin and by papal decree by John Paul II, the Archdiocese was further subdivided to form three new dioceses: the dioceses of Cubao, Kalookan and Pasig.
[edit] Territorial jurisdiction
The Archdiocese of Manila is presently made up of seven (7) cities, namely, Manila, Makati, Pasay, Mandaluyong, Pasig (excluding Santolan and Rosario District), Quezon City (excluding Northern part from Tandang Sora Avenue and Mactan), Kalookan and five (5) municipalities, namely, San Juan, Taguig, Pateros, Malabon and Navotas. It covers a land area of 315.26 square kilometers. It is bounded by the Diocese of Malolos (Bulacan) in the north; Diocese of Antipolo (Rizal) in the east; Diocese of Imus (Cavite) and San Pablo (Laguna) in the south; and the Manila Bay in the west.
[edit] Archbishop of Manila
The Archbishop of Manila's see is located in the Manila Cathedral, under the patronage of the Our Lady of Immaculate Conception. The Archbishop of Manila is also the metropolitan bishop of several suffragan archdioceses and dioceses. And, also, the Primate of the Philippines.
After having been served by a single residential bishop, 19 Archbishops of Manila appointed from Spain served the archdiocese. In 1903, the Archdiocese of Manila received its first archbishop from the United States as appointed by the Vatican. Following the leadership of Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty from St. Louis, Missouri, an Irishman was appointed in succession. On September 6, 1916, Michael J. O'Doherty was received by the Filipinos.
Archbishop O'Doherty would lead the Roman Catholic Church of the Philippines in its most difficult times. Filipinos had seen years of petitioning for independence from the United States and then the Japanese attacked Manila on December 8, 1941. The Philippines would become subject to the brutality of Japanese soldiers during World War II through 1945. Finally, the Philippines gained its independence with Archbishop O'Doherty leading the nation through spiritual thanksgiving.
When Archbishop O'Doherty died, the Vatican chose the first Filipino to become Archbishop of Manila. Fr. Gabriel Reyes was already serving as Coadjutor Archbishop of Manila before being raised to the position. His successor, Archbishop (later, Cardinal) Rufino Jiao Santos, became the first Filipino to become a cardinal in consistory.
Archbishop Jaime Lachica Sin became the most recognized Archbishop of Manila worldwide when he challenged the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. Becoming only the third Filipino cardinal created in consistory, Archbishop Sin was credited as one of the architects of the People Power movement that forced the dictator into exile.
Currently, the Archbishop of Manila is Gaudencio Borbon Rosales. He is currently assisted by an auxiliary bishop and an auxiliary bishop emeritus.
[edit] Ordinaries
- Domingo de Salazar, O.P. (6 Feb 1579 Appointed - 4 Dec 1594 Died)
- Ignacio Santibáñez, O.F.M. (30 Aug 1595 Appointed - 14 Aug 1598 Died)
- Miguel de Benavides, O.P. (7 Oct 1602 Appointed - 26 Jul 1605 Died)
- Diego Vázquez de Mercado (28 Mar 1608 Appointed - 12 Jun 1616 Died)
- Miguel García Serrano, O.S.A. (12 Feb 1618 Appointed - 14 Jun 1629 Died)
- Hernando Guerrero, O.S.A. (9 Jan 1634 Appointed - 1 Jul 1641 Died)
- Fernando Montero Espinosa (5 Feb 1646 Appointed - 1648 Died)
- Diego Camacho y Ávila (19 Aug 1696 Ordained Bishop - 14 Jan 1704)
- Francisco de la Cuesta, O.S.H. ( 1704 Ordained Bishop - 23 Sep 1723)
- Angel Rodríguez, O.SS.T. (17 Dec 1731 Appointed - 24 Jun 1742 Died)
- Pedro José Manuel Martínez de Arizala, O.F.M. (3 Feb 1744 Appointed - 28 May 1755 Died)
- Basilio Tomás Sancho Hernando, Sch. P. (14 Apr 1766 Appointed - 15 Dec 1787 Died)
- Juan Antonio Gallego Orbigo, O.F.M. (15 Dec 1788 Appointed - 17 May 1797 Died)
- Juan Antonio Zulaibar, O.P. (26 Mar 1804 Appointed - 4 Mar 1824 Died)
- Hilarión Díez, O.S.A. (3 Jul 1826 Appointed - 7 May 1829 Died)
- José Seguí, O.S.A. (5 Jul 1830 Appointed - 4 Jul 1845 Died)
- José Aranguren, O.R.S.A. (19 Jan 1846 Appointed - 18 Apr 1861 Died)
- Gregorio Melitón Martínez Santa Cruz (23 Dec 1861 Appointed - 1875 Resigned)
- Pedro Payo y Piñeiro, O.P. (28 Jan 1876 Appointed - 1 Jan 1889 Died)
- Bernardino Nozaleda y Villa, O.P. (27 May 1889 Appointed - 4 Feb 1902 Resigned)
- Jeremiah James Harty (6 Jun 1903 Appointed - 16 May 1916)
- Michael J. O'Doherty (6 Sep 1916 Appointed - 13 Oct 1949 Died)
- Gabriel M. Reyes (13 Oct 1949 Succeeded - 10 Oct 1952 Died)
- Rufino Jiao Santos (10 Feb 1953 Appointed - 3 Sep 1973 Died)
- Jaime Lachica Sin (21 Jan 1974 Appointed - 15 Sep 2003 Retired)
- Gaudencio Borbon Rosales (15 Sep 2003 Appointed - present)
[edit] Assets
The archdiocese is considered to be one of the richest archdioceses in the world, and the richest in the Philippines. It has a considerable number of real estate holdings located in Metro Manila and financial interests in some institutions, even after the division of its territories in the past few years. For one, the archdiocese owns 8.5% of Bank of the Philippine Islands the Philippines' second largest bank and has shares in San Miguel Corporation, Southeast Asia's largest food and beverage company. The archdiocese also owns schools, hostels, charitable institutions and a travel agency.
[edit] Statistics
As of 2004, the Archdiocese of Manila has registered a total of 2,719,781 baptized Catholics. The faithful are served by the archdiocese's 475 diocesan and religious priests - with a ratio of 5,725 Catholics per priests, under 85 parishes. The archdiocese also houses 369 male religious and 1,730 female religious engaged in various social, pastoral and missionary works in various areas of the archdiocese.
[edit] Formation of priests
The archdiocese operates San Carlos Seminary, which is responsible for the formation of future priests for the archdiocese and for its suffragan dioceses. Located in a sprawling complex in Makati City, it has collegiate- and theologate-level formation houses as well as formation houses for Filipino-Chinese future priests and a center for adult vocations. The seminary offers civil and ecclesiastical degrees in philosophy, theology and pastoral ministry.
The archdiocese also operates Our Lady of Guadalupe Minor Seminary, a seminary for young men in the secondary school level. It is located a few blocks away from San Carlos Seminary.
Other major seminaries that serve the spiritual and pastoral needs of the archdiocese include the San Jose Seminary (under the administration of the Jesuits, located within the Ateneo de Manila University complex) and the UST Central Seminary, the Royal and Pontifical Interdiocesan Seminary of the Philippines, (under the administration of the Order of Preachers, located within the University of Santo Tomas campus).
[edit] Apostolic Nunciature
The official residence of the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines is located within the archdiocese, although the nuncio is not subject to the authority of the archbishop. The present papal nuncio is Archbishop Fernando Filoni, who is also the concurrent dean of the diplomatic corps in the Philippines. In January 21, 2006 Pope Benedict XVI announced that he has appointed Archbishop Franco as the new Apostolic Nuncio to Israel and Cyprus.
