Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila - Archbishop of Manila

Archbishop of Manila

The see of the Archbishop of Manila is the Manila Cathedral, 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, nineteen Archbishops were appointed from Spain. In 1903, the Archdiocese of Manila received its first American archbishop as appointed by the Holy See. Following the tenure of Archbishop Jeremiah James Harty from St. Louis, Missouri, the Irishman Michael J. O'Doherty was appointed, and received on 6 September 1916,.

Archbishop O'Doherty would lead the Philippine Church in its most difficult times, when Filipinos were petitioning for sovereignty from the United States, followed by the Japanese Occupation of the Philippines during World War 2.

When Archbishop O'Doherty died after Philippine independence, the Vatican chose the first Filipino to become Archbishop. 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.

Jaime Sin became the most recognised Archbishop worldwide when he challenged the authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos. Having becoming only the third Filipino cardinal, Cardinal Sin was credited as one of the architects of the 1986 People Power movement that deposed Marcos and dismantled his government.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed Gaudencio Rosales as the new Archbishop, succeeding Cardinal Sin; he was later elevated by Pope Benedict XVI to the cardinalate on 24 March 2006.

The current Archbishop of Manila and Primate of the Philippines is His Eminence Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. On 13 October 2011, the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila announced the appointment of Tagle, the then-Bishop of Imus as the new Archbishop, replacing Cardinal Rosales, whose resigned upon having reached the compulsory age of retirement. Tagle is currently assisted by two auxiliary bishops, while his predecessor Cardinal Rosales has retired from public ministry and now enjoys the honorary title of Archbishop-Emeritus