Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila

Manila Cathedral, Manila
Location
Territory	Manila, Makati, Pasay, Mandaluyong, and San Juan
Metropolitan	Luis Antonio Tagle, D.D. Archbishop of Manila
Statistics
Population - Total	approx. 5,000,000 Roman Catholics
Information
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	February 6, 1579 (Diocese), August 14, 1595 (Archdiocese)
Cathedral	Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception
Patron saint	Immaculate Conception
Current leadership
Pope	Benedict XVI
Website
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila or Archdiocese of Manila is a particular church or diocese of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. It is also considered as the primatial see of the country.

History

The original Diocese of Manila, the precursor to the most powerful archdiocese in Asia was canonically erected on February 6, 1579 encompassing all of the Spanish colonies in Asia and originally was a suffragan of Mexico. Over the course of Philippine history and the growth of Catholicism in the region, the Archdiocese of Manila had 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 in proximity to it, namely: 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 X, implementing the Bull “Quae Mari Sinico” of Pope Leo XIII. Also on that date saw the creation of the Diocese of Lipa (now known as the Archdiocese of Lipa) which had jurisdiction over the provinces of Batangas, Quezon Province, and some parts of Masbate.

File:SanSebastianChurch.jpg

Interior of Basilica Minore de San Sebastian - National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Engineering design are from Don Genaro Palacios. Metal parts came from Belgium and later shipped and assembled in Manila in 1891)

Eighteen years later, on May 19, 1928, Pope Pius XI established the Diocese of Lingayen, dividing 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 divided once more. The civil provinces of Bulacan in the north and Cavite in the south were separated from the archdiocese, the northern part becoming the Diocese of Malolos and towards the south the Diocese of Imus.

The façade of the Basilica Minore de Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila

The eastern part of the province of Rizal was excised 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 Parañaque in the south also comprising the cities of Las Piñas and Muntinlupa.

In 2003, by the recommendation of Cardinal Jaime Sin and by papal decree of Pope John Paul II, the Archdiocese was further subdivided to form three new dioceses: the Dioceses of Cubao, Kalookan and Pasig.

Archbishop of Manila

The Archbishop of Manila's see is located in the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, under the patronage of the Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. The Archbishop of Manila is also the metropolitan bishop of several suffragan archdioceses and dioceses as well as 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 Holy See. Following the tenure 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 Church in 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 Imperial Japan during World War II through 1945. The Philippines gained its full sovereignty 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 authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Becoming only the third Filipino cardinal created in consistory, Archbishop Sin was credited as one of the architects of the 1986 People Power movement that forced the dictator into exile.

Currently, the see of the Archdiocese of Manila is held by Cardinal Gaudencio Borbon Rosales. He is currently assisted by two auxiliary bishops.

Suffragan dioceses

• Diocese of Antipolo
• Diocese of Cubao
• Diocese of Imus

• Diocese of Kalookan
• Diocese of Malolos
• Diocese of Novaliches

• Diocese of Parañaque
• Diocese of Pasig
• Diocese of San Pablo

Ordinaries

Picture	Name	From	Until
	Domingo de Salazar, O. P.	February 6, 1579	December 4, 1594
	Ignacio Santibáñez, O.F.M.	August 30, 1595	August 14, 1598
File:Miguel de Benavides.JPG	Miguel de Benavides, O.P.	October 7, 1602	July 26, 1605
	Diego Vázquez de Mercado	March 28, 1608	June 12, 1616
	Miguel García Serrano, O.S.A.	February 12, 1618	June 14, 1629
	Hernando Guerrero, O.S.A.	January 9, 1634	July 1, 1641
	Fernando Montero Espinosa	February 5, 1646	1648
	Diego Camacho y Ávila	August 19, 1696	January 14, 1704
	Francisco de la Cuesta, O.S.H.	1704	September 23, 1723
	Angel Rodríguez, O.SS.T.	December 17, 1731	June 24, 1742
	Pedro José Manuel Martínez de Arizala, O.F.M.	February 3, 1744	May 28, 1755
	Basilio Tomás Sancho Hernando de Santa Justa, Sch. P.	April 14, 1766	December 15, 1787
	Juan Antonio Gallego Orbigo, O.F.M.	December 15, 1788	May 17, 1797
	Juan Antonio Zulaibar, O.P.	March 26, 1804	March 4, 1824
	Hilarión Díez, O.S.A.	July 3, 1826	May 7, 1829
	José Seguí, O.S.A.	July 5, 1830	July 4, 1845
	José Aranguren, ORSA	January 19, 1846	April 18, 1861
	Gregorio Melitón Martínez Santa Cruz	December 23, 1861	1875
	Pedro Payo y Piñeiro, O.P.	January 28, 1876	January 1, 1889
	Bernardino Nozaleda y Villa, O.P.	May 27, 1889	February 4, 1902
File:JeremiahHarty.jpg	Jeremiah James Harty	June 6, 1903	May 16, 1916
	Michael J. O'Doherty	September 6, 1916	October 13, 1949
	Gabriel M. Reyes	October 13, 1949	October 15, 1952
	Rufino Jiao Santos	February 10, 1953	September 3, 1973
	Jaime Lachica Sin	March 19, 1974	September 15, 2003
File:Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales (1950s).jpg	Gaudencio Borbon Rosales	November 21, 2003	October 15, 2010
	Luis Antonio Tagle	October 16, 2010	incumbent

• Auxiliary Bishop - Most Rev. Bernardino C. Cortez, D.D.
• Auxiliary Bishop - Most Rev. Broderick S. Pabillo, S.D.B., D.D.
• Vicar General - Msgr. Josefino S. Ramirez, STD
• Vicar General and Moderator Curiae - Msgr. Francisco G. Tantoco
• Chancellor - Fr. Rufino Sescon Jr.

Assets

The archdiocese is considered to be one of the wealthiest archdioceses in the world, and the wealthiest 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 the 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.

Demographics

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.

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 Makati City, it has collegiate- and theologate-level formation houses as well as formation houses for Chinese Filipino future priests (which is the Lorenzo Ruiz Mission Soicety) and a center for adult vocations (Holy Apostles Senior Seminary). 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 Dominicans, located within the University of Santo Tomas campus).

Apostolic Nunciature

Main article: Apostolic Nunciature to the Philippines

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 Edward Joseph Adams, who is also the concurrent dean of the diplomatic corps in the Philippines by virtue of local diplomatic protocol.

See also

• Roman Catholicism in the Philippines

Resources

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila
• The Royal and Conciliar San Carlos Seminary
• The Suffragan Diocese of Pasig
• The Suffragan Diocese of Antipolo
• The Suffragan Diocese of Cubao
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Archdiocese of Manila" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• Gregory XIII, Pope, 1502-1585. "Bull for erection of the Diocese and Cathedral Church of Manila." In The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898. Cleveland, Ohio: A.H. Clark Company, 1903-9. Vol. 4, 1576-82. Pp. 119-124.