A Prince of the Church

Media

Part of National Weekly

Title: A Prince of the Church
Language: English
Year: 1949
Rights
Fulltext: Page 2 NATIONAL WEEKLY bctober 8, 1949 A Prince of the Church l'v10NS. GABRIEL M. REYES ELEVATED TO POST OF COADJUTOR ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA WITH RIGHT OF SUCCESSION TO ARCHBISHOP MICH A EL J. O'DOHERTY, NOW A IL ING AND BEDRIDDEN In a magn.ific~nt rite, resplendent with the brilliance of a thousand chandelier lights playing on the purple robes of hig"h ecc1essiastical dignitaries, with choir music rising to heavenly heights as seminarians broke into the sacred hyinn, "Sacerdote at Pontifex," and priests and laymen chanted the "Te Deum," Mons. Gabriel M. H.cyes, until recently Archbi·~i.,.op of Cebu, was installed Thursday evening .as Coadjutor Archbishop of Manila at iJ1e S~n Miguel pro-Cathec:~·al. with a right of succession to Mons. Michael J. o•Doherty, ailing Archbishop: of Manila. By MARIO ROSADIOS Staff Member ifhe installation rites wer(• conducted by Mons. Igidin 1 Vagnozzi, Apostolic Delegate a.nd representative of the Pope in the Philippines. Thu . n·emun1es began shortly after Mons. Reyf's and Mon~. Vagnozzi arrived at the Snn Miguel pro-Catnedral and fireworks exploded into the air and churci!bells rang m .: nyous welcome. Coadjutor Archbishop GABRIEL M. REYES \Vith his appointment to his high office, Mons. Reyes become~ the highest dignitary in the Church Hierachy. His elevation was received by both priests and laymen with great rejoicing. !To honor him, .Presidenlt Quirino gave him a recePtion at Malacafian Palace. Mom;. Reyes took his ~eat at the throne on the rig'f,t ~!de of the altar, while l\fons. Vagnozzi took the throne on the left side. As the ceremo nies began, Rev. Fr. August" Jg:nacio of the Sampalu:: ch_urch read the papal decre:~ on the Archbishop's appoint ment which was in L-atin, and was translated intO E-nglish and Tagalog by Rev. Fr. Vicent<' Reyes of the San :Mirrnel parish. belonging to the Manila arch· Rufino Santos, auxiliary biT.hen follmvc<l the Act of diocese who approached Mon~ shop of Manila, delivered a Obedience of the ciergymPn Eeyes at his throne. Mr.ns. \~ elcome addriess to wh!ch Mons. Reyes responded. The new archbishop ~aid that he was taking over his 1~ew post in a ~-pirit of humiJ;ty, declaring that he wa2 aware of the great task that lies ahead. He said that .-Juring his encumhency, he will devote himself largely to accelerating the work of the Catholic Action and the Pstahlishment of more Cath ')lie f.chools in the Manila archdio-, cese. Mons. Reyes, in the ::om-: p.Jete vestment.; of the arch-' bishop, with miter over his purple skull cap and crossier held in his hand, ·walked to the altar and as a prelude to the benediction, he s;mg the "Antiphoe. to St. l\li-' chael." He then invoked the Holy Sl>irit, ·at the same·time chanting, "Ve:ni Creator." Assisted by Mons. Narciso Gatpayat of . the Binondo Church and by Mons. Vicente Fernandez of the Quiapo church, the new archbishop exhibited the holy monstrance as the huge congregation bowed their heads. ·At the conclusion of the ceremon~es, Mons. Reyes blessed the c0ngrega.tion, marki.ng a ne\v milestone in; the religious tift! of the peo'ple of the Philippines. · The new prince of the church was the last of the series of bishops of the Cebu bishopric and the first of· the Cebu archbishopric. He .. was consecrated Bishop of Cebu at a splendid rite held at the Jaro (Iloilo) Cathedral on October 11, 1!)32, and he took October 8, 1949 possessit>n of the bishop-de on October 13 of the same v ca1·. Then ,on Apri 28, 1934, thf· Diocese of Cebu was created and made a.n Archbishopric, and Bishop Reves was madP. its first Archbishop. He was installed on November 9, 1934 A native of Kalibo, Capiz, where he was born on March 24, 1892, Archbishop R<~Ye!'l. took his ecclesiastical studies in the Diocesan Seminary of .Taro, Iloilo, and was ordained priest on March 27. 1915. Mons. Reyes has thus sE:rv"ct more than a third of a <~t"!n;:u ry of his life in the prii:;st · hood. A noted scholar. w·1·!ter and teacher, Mon'. Reye;i .\ orked hard during tis en"IY years <~of priesthood. Fur months ·after his ordination, he served as assistant to th<' parish priest of Jaro, t11en su_coessively he served i.n ~s pariah priest of Balasan CQmprising'-;tJte towns of ERtanc1a. Batad and Carles. then Capiz, Capiz, and finallv Rta. :Barbara, Iloilo. In 192-0, he was appOlnted Chancellor of .the Jaro Diocese and Vicar General on April 29, 1927. He served in 1111s post for about five y-.;urs when he was preconized Bishop of Cebu on July 29. 1932. During the lapanese occupation,· Mons. Reyes nearly lost his life when after br!ing put under· ·sttrot surveillltnce 'by the Japa:itese he was forced by the . enemy to collaborate with them. Mons. }!eyes demuh"e!d. "My 'task is to minister to the spiritual needs of the people, •F Mon~ Reyes told a Japanese coto~ who had been quite insistent in his demands that he signed. ~t political manifesto for the·· people of Cebu and the surrourtdrng islands. At first Archbishop Reyes was able to sidetrack the Jap officer but when the American liberation forces ~tarted to bomb that southern city, the sons of Nippon decided to take him as hostage. :\JATIONAL Somehow word came to Mons. Reyes of the coming of . the Japanese und he left the archbishop's palace in Cebu just a few minutes before the arrival of his would-be captors. For some time after liberation, no word was heard from. Mons. Hey•es. It 1va1t thought then that he had been been killed by the Japs, but Mons. Reyes turned up very much alive ready and determined to rebuild the churches, the schools and colleges, hospitals and semi. l~aries which wer1e destroyed by the war. The conversion of the Colegio de San Carlos of Cebu into a nniver.sity, the eetablishment of girls dormitori1es and the opening of Catholic schools in several town-.; in the Visayas. not to m:-ntion the repair and constructinn of damaged churche'i. including that in Kalibo, Capiz. Hre among the more recent accomDlishments of Mons. Rieves. At 57. he is still hale anrl hearty. And he is in ~oorl health. For him it has oecn work. work. work, and wort: he must if he m~ist re-cstablish , the Manila archdioc~se into its old pre-war pr;:emrnencc :~ Manila alone. work in the repair anrt reconstruction of several destroyed churches await him. The Sta. Cruz c.hurch. the Binondo chul'clt. a.nd the Manila Cathedral. not to mention other churches in lntramuros razed by the war. arp awaiting his leadE>rship, which on several occasions he has demonstrnted while Archbishop of Cebu \VEE KL Y Page 3 for Richer .. • • fuller tone and easier tuning! RADIO THE .NOCTURNE (model 58819) Featur·es ne\\' "DialSpeaker'' for richer, fuller tone "J.nd ea,ier tuning. World-wide recepticn on all internatio:1al shO'rt wave bands plus medium wave. Logging scale <tn<l Magnascope Spread-Band tuning. Cabinet in g11ea111ing plastic with contrasting trim. AC op~ration. Height, 9 in., \Vidth, 1'5 in., Depiii, 8 in. The :NOCTURNE (Model 58819) Call 3 21~61 for a demonstration Erlanger & Galinger, Inc. 123 T. Pinpin Bdween Escolta and Dasmarifia; Manila Of course, as a lav Cathdic has put it, the work. of church reconstruction and repair will cost a lot of money. But Mons.· Reyes is not afraid to tack!~ the job. God willing, ~~ ~111 surmount all diffcult;~s m the pres:ent as he has surmounted so much hnrd'ships in the pa~t:. !~~~~~~-~-~-· GRACE PARK SUBDIVISION Lots for sale on installment Faith-it has made Gabriel M. Reyes a prince of the church. And Faith will build for him mone churches and more schools. > 10% down - balance 10 years. Area - 150 to 650 sq. m. At the low cost of P5.00 to P10.00 sq. m. R. L. Tolentino Mezzanine Floor, Monte de Piedad Bldg. Plaza Sta. Cruz and Ongpin