The Filipino Archbishops of Manila

In the middle of the 20 th century, the archdiocese finally came under the leadership of Filipino bishops.

Gabriel M. Reyes

Gabriel M. Reyes, the first Filipino Archbishop of Manila , served from 1949 to 1952. Among his tangible achievements were the establishment of the San Carlos Seminary and the parochial schools. His vision to build a Catholic center was realized by his successor with the building of the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center on U.N. Avenue in Manila .

Rufino J. Cardinal Santos

Rufino J. Cardinal Santos served from 1953 to 1974. He succeeded Archbishop Reyes and held the distinction of being the first Filipino cardinal. Cardinal Santos paved the way for the establishment of Catholic Charities, St. Paul Hospital (now the Cardinal Santos Medical Center ). He also re-established the Philippine Trust Company and the Catholic Travel Office. During his term, the Manila Cathedral, which was damaged by World War II, was reconstructed and dedicated to the patronage of the Immaculate Conception on December 10, 1958 . It was also during his term that His Holiness Pope Paul VI made a pastoral visit to the Philippines , the first ever by a Supreme Pontiff in the history of the Philippine Church. The Holy Father’s journey was also occasioned by the Asian Bishops’ Meeting, which was graced the presence of the Holy Father himself.

Jaime L. Cardinal Sin

Jaime L. Cardinal Sin served from 1974 to 2003. He presided at very significant events which led to a reinvigoration of the faith and of a deeper assessment and evaluation of the life of the local Church. In 1979, he convened the Fourth Synod of Manila which saw, for the first time, the active and full-fledged membership of the laity in an archdiocesan synod. In February 1981, the country was blessed with the visit of Pope John Paul II who presided over the grace-filled event of the beatification of Lorenzo Ruiz who, in 1987, would be canonized as the first Filipino saint. In April of the same year, the Manila Cathedral was elevated to a Minor Basilica.

Gaudencio B. Rosales

Gaudencio B. Rosales, officially installed on November 21, 2003 , is the incumbent Archbishop of Manila. While as Bishop of the Diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon, he accompanied local church in its gallant struggle against unbridled commercial and illegal logging and represented Malaybalay in the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro . He became Archbishop of Lipa in 1992, where later he founded the Pondong Batangan, a value-based community foundation, and organized the Lipa Archdiocesan General Pastoral Assembly (LAGPAS), forerunners of the now-operational Pondo ng Pinoy and of the first Manila Interdiocesan General Pastoral Assembly (MIGPAS) in 2004, which he also organized. As chairman of the Episcopal Commission of the Clergy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), he convened the first National Congress of the Clergy in the Philippines in July 2004. He was chosen to represent CBCP in three World Synods of Bishops (1990, 1997, and 2001).