José Maria Cuenco

José María Cuenco (May 19, 1885 – October 8, 1972) was a Filipino prelate of the Catholic Church and was the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of Jaro in the Philippines.

Early life

Archbishop Cuenco was born on May 19, 1885, in Carmen, Cebu, Philippines. 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 In 1896, Cuenco graduated from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran, Manila. Then, he studied at the Colegio-Seminario de San Carlos in Cebu, garnering a Bachelor of Arts in 1903. He then went to the United States, received his Pre-Law at the Santa Clara University in 1904, and studied at Georgetown University, where he received his Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters in 1904, and his Doctorate in Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts in 1905. He then returned to the Philippines and initially taught at Cebu Provincial High School, before entering the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in Cebu City in 1909 to study priesthood. He was ordained priest for the Diocese of Cebu on June 11, 1914.

Early Pastoral Ministry Cuenco had a distinguished career as a churchman. As a young priest, he 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). In 1917, he was appointed by Bishop Juan Gorordo as Chancellor-Secretary and became Vicar General in 1925. In 1931, during the sede vacante of the Diocese of Cebu, he was appointed by Apostolic Delegate Guglielmo Piani as Vicar Delegate. Upon the accession of Archbishop Gabriel Reyes as prelate of Cebu, he was reappointed Vicar General, and on the same year, was appointed by Pope Pius XI as Domestic Prelate. In 1933, he became the first parish priest of Cebu City's Santo Rosario Parish, serving until he was appointed to the episcopacy.

Episcopacy

In 1941, he was appointed by Pope Pius XII as Titular Bishop of Hemeria and Auxiliary Bishop of Jaro. However, due to the outbreak of World War II, he was consecrated bishop on December 27, 1942, with Archbishop Piani as his principal consecrator, and Bishops Cesar Ma. Guerrero and Mariano Madriaga as co-consecrators. Following the death of Jaro Bishop James McCloskey, he became the Bishop of Jaro, and upon its promotion to Archdiocese in 1951, he became its first Archbishop.

He served as Archbishop of Jaro until his death on October 8, 1972.

Works

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.