Rufino Cardinal Santos
From Freepedia
Rufino Jiao Cardinal Santos was born in Guagua, Philippines, on August 26, 1908 and died in Manila on September 3, 1973. Buried, metropolitan cathedral, Manila served as the Archbishop of Manila from 1953 to 1973. 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.
Caritas Manila’s history began with a Cardinal that walked his talk.
Rufino Cardinal Santos, first Filipino Cardinal, became the 29th Archbishop of Manila in a post-war scenario that saw a Philippines plagued with the following: a high dependence on the upper class in the social, economic and political growth of the nation; a growing inequality in the distribution of wealth; critical problems of labor, land and tenancy that caused the communist movement to gain ground. It was to this social order that Rufino Cardinal Santos spoke upon his installation:
“I have thought of organizing a social welfare for uplifting the spirit and soul of these unfortunate members of our community. The Archdiocese will lead in this undertaking with an initial amount of fifty to one hundred thousand pesos. Then I expect the more fortunate of the faithful in the Archdiocese to contribute their help in the amount of 1 peso a month for the same purpose, in order that we may budget some two hundred to two hundred fifty thousand pesos a year for buying food, clothing and medicines for distribution among our poor brethren, and the education of their children.”
This plan took shape a little later, when the Cardinal appointed an eleven-man Administrative Board on October 1 1953. And so a new era had dawned, when the establishment of Caritas Manila (first known as Catholic Charities) brought structure and organization to the way the Church’s charitable works in the Archdiocese of Manila were being carried out.
Largely, the first decade was a decade of talking to the poor, of giving aid when needed. Sure, programs that harnessed talents and opened up opportunities were started such as the educational assistance program and job placement program. But it was medical assistance, crisis assistance and emergency relief that reached the most number of clients and became the most sought-after programs of Caritas Manila’s first decade.
| Preceded by: Fr. Gabriel Reyes | Archbishop of Manila 1953–1974 | Succeeded by: Jaime Cardinal Sin |
