The Ascendancy of Gabriel M. Reyes to the Archbishopric of Manila (1949-1952)

Abstract

This research will discuss, narrate, and analyze the factors that led to the appointment of the first native Archbishop of Manila and how he responded to the challenges of making the faith timely for the laity during his three-year stewardship guided by Arnold Toynbee’s Challenge and Response theory applied on the micro level. The seat of the Archbishopric of the Archdiocese of Manila was regarded as the premier office to be occupied by any clergy in the Philippines. For almost four centuries, this prime seat was given to foreigners, dominated by the Spaniards. Political and religious factors determined the archbishop-to-be: the patronato real during the Spanish era and the preference of the American officials during the American period. The choice for the episcopal seat took a paradigm shift after the codification of the Canon Law in 1917 when the appointment for the episcopacy rested solely on the Pope’s decision based on the candidate’s credentials. The same Canon Law was in effect on 1949 when the Archdiocese of Manila had its first native Coadjutor-Archbishop. The native clergy who was the designated successor of the ailing Archbishop Michael O’Doherty was Gabriel M. Reyes, an Aklanon, formerly of the Archdiocese of Cebu.