José María Cuenco

José María Cuenco D.D. (19 May 1885 – 8 October 1972) was Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church and was the first Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Jaro in the Philippines.[1]


José María Diosomito Cuenco

Archbishop of Jaro
ChurchCatholic
ArchdioceseArchdiocese of Jaro
Appointed24 November 1945[lower-alpha 1]
Term ended8 October 1972
PredecessorJames Paul McCloskey
SuccessorJaime Lachica Sin
Other post(s)Bishop of Jaro
Personal details
Born
José María Diosomito Cuenco

19 May 1885 (1885-05-19)
Died7 October 1972(1972-10-07) (aged 87)
Iloilo City, Philippines
BuriedMetropolitan Cathedral of Jaro
Previous post(s)
Education
MottoQuid Retribuam Domino
(How Can I Repay the Lord)
Coat of armsJosé María Diosomito Cuenco's coat of arms
Ordination history
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained byJuan Bautista Gorordo
Date11 June 1914
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecratorGuglielmo Piani
Co-consecratorsCesar Maria Guerrero y Rodriguez,
Mariano Aspiras Madriaga
Date27 December 1942
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by José Maria Diosomito Cuenco as principal consecrator
Antonio Floro Frondosa1952

Early life

Archbishop Cuenco was born on 19 May 1885 in Carmen, Cebu, Philippines.[lower-alpha 2] He was the eldest child of Mariano Albao Cuenco and Remedios Diosomito. His father, a journalist and Clerk of Court, died in 1909. His mother largely raised Jose's 15 sisters and brothers, among them, Mariano Jesús and Miguel, who became a senator and congressman respectively. The Cuenco family were involved with printing and publishing as newspaper publishers and owners of Imprenta Rosario, one of Cebu's early print shops.

Education

Cuenco graduated from University of San Carlos in Cebu and Manila. He also graduated from Georgetown University in the United States,[2][3] where he earned a doctorate in law.[4][5] Cuenco decided to forsake a career in law to enter the priesthood. He was ordained a priest on 11 June 1914.

Career

It was as a churchman that Cuenco had a distinguished career. He was vicar general of the Cebu Diocese in 1925 and the founding parish priest of the city's Santo Rosario parish in 1933. He became titular bishop of Hemeria and auxiliary bishop of Jaro in 1941.[6] Four years after, he succeeded James Paul McCloskey as Ordinary concurrent with the elevation of the see as a metropolitan, which effectively made him its first Archbishop.[7] In 1957 Cuenco received an honorary degree from Santa Clara University.[8]

Works

Cuenco was the founder-editor of the Cebu Catholic newspaper El Boletin Catolico (1915-1930), continuing the work of his own father who was publisher-editor of the pioneering Catholic newspaper in Cebu, Ang Camatuoran (1902-1911).

He authored and published close to a dozen books, mostly narratives of his travels and experiences, including Archbishop Cuenco: Autobiography (Iloilo: La Editorial, 1972), which came out shortly before he died in Jaro on 8 October 1972.

Notes

  1. Cuenco was originally not appointed as archbishop of Jaro, but rather as bishop, because, in 1945, Jaro was just a diocese. When, in 1951, the diocese was elevated by Pope Pius XII to an archdiocese, Cuenco was concomitantly appointed as archbishop. So, while he was the Ordinary of Jaro for the entire time from his appointment in 1945 until his death in 1972, that period is, technically, divided between his term as bishop (1945–1951) and as archbishop (1951–1972).
  2. When Cuenco was born the Philippines was the Captaincy General of the Philippines of the Spanish Empire

References

  1. "Jose Maria Cuenco". sea.lib.niu.edu. Southeast Asia Digital Library. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  2. "Class Notes 1905" (PDF). Georgetown University Alumni Magazine. Vol. 1, no. 4. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Alumni Association Inc. Fall 1948. p. 13. Most Rev. Jose Ma. Cuenco, Grad. '05 '07, is now serving as Bishop of Jaro at Iloilo City, Philippine Islands.
  3. "Jeremiah F. Minihan '25 Consecrated Bishop" (PDF). Georgetown University Alumni Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 3. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Alumni Association Inc. September 1954. p. 7. Only one other alumnus now holds episcopal rank, the Most Reverend Jose M. Cuenco, '07, Archbishop of Jaro, Philippine Republic.
  4. "Class Notes 1907" (PDF). Georgetown University Alumni Magazine. Vol. 10, no. 3. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Alumni Association Inc. September 1957. p. 12. The Class of 1907 of the Law School had two reunions in June to celebrate their golden jubilee. One was held at the University, the other in Manila where His Excellency, the Most Reverend Jose Ma. Cuenco, D.D., G '05, L '07, and Archbishop of Jaro, his classmate Hon. Delfín Jaranilla, L '07, Chief Justice of the Philippines were feted at the Philippine Columbian Association by a large company including the President of the Philippines, Hon. Carlos P. Garcia, and the Apostolic Nuncio, Most Reverend Egidio Vagnozzi.
  5. Georgetown University Alumni Directory 1789-1912. Georgetown University. 1912 via archive.org. Cuenco, Jose Maria, A.3L, '05; PhD, '07; LL.B., '07. Student, Seminario de San Carlos, Cebu, P. I.
  6. Congregation for the Erection of Churches and Consistorial Provisions, Acts of the Sacred Congregations Acta Ss. Congregationum (1941), Acta Apostolicae Sedis 33 (1941), 513. S. Congregatio Consistorialis - Provisio Ecclesiarum (in Latin)
  7. Congregation for the Erection of Churches and Consistorial Provisions, Acts of the Sacred Congregations Acta Ss. Congregationum (1945), Acta Apostolicae Sedis 37 (1945), 325. S. Congregatio Consistorialis - Provisio Ecclesiarum (in Latin)
  8. "Class Notes 1905" (PDF). Georgetown University Alumni Magazine. Vol. 8, no. 3. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Alumni Association Inc. September 1955. p. 13. Archbishop Cuenco, who is Chairman of the Reunion of his Law School Class in 1957, recently received an Honorary degree from Santa Clara University.


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