Brethren, Peace and Good to All of you.
The retired Archbishop of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Luis Cardinal Aponte Martínez, was called home to the Father today. He was 89 years old.
Biographical Sketch
Luis Aponte Martínez (August 4, 1922 - April 10, 2012) was the only Puerto Rican ever to be elevated to a cardinal of the Catholic Church, and for 34 years was the Archbishop of San Juan. He was a cardinal elector in the two conclaves of 1978 responsible for the elections of Popes John Paul I and John Paul II.
Aponte Martínez was born in the town of Lajas, Puerto Rico. He came from a large family and his deep religious devotion was evident from an early age. Both his parents and siblings were devoted Catholics and he served as an altar boy for many years in his town's parish church. This experience was, in part, the inspiration that motivated him to take up the vocation of priesthood.
He studied in the Seminary of San Juan in Puerto Rico; from there he went to Boston, Massachusetts where he studied in the Seminary of Saint John. He also attended Boston College and earned his Doctorate from the Seminary of Saint Leo of Florida.
[edit] Priesthood and EpiscopacyAponte was ordained a priest in San German, Puerto Rico on April 10, 1950. Between 1950 and 1960, he was the superintendent of the Catholic schools for the diocese of Ponce and chancellor of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He also served as chaplain for the Puerto Rican National Guard.
On October 12, 1960, Aponte Martinez became the second Puerto Rican (after Juan Alejo de Arizmendi) to be consecrated Bishop, being appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Ponce, Puerto Rico by Pope John XXIII. On April 16, 1963 he was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Ponce, and on November 18, 1963 succeeded as Bishop of Ponce. On November 4, 1964, he became the Archbishop of San Juan.
ope Paul VI honored Aponte Martínez by making him Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Provvidenza a Monteverde. He held the position of President of the Board of Directors of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He was President of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference and also of the Latin American Episcopal Conference.
In 1984, Aponte helped coordinate and was among the many dignitaries who greeted Pope John Paul II, upon his Holiness' visit to Puerto Rico.
Cardinal Aponte was actively involved in some of the church's major acquisitions in Puerto Rico. Among these were a television and radio station and a weekly publication called "El Visitante" (The Visitor). This served to spread the church's point of view all over the island.
Cardinal Aponte retired as Archbishop of San Juan in 1999. He participated in the preparation for the papal conclave of 2005 but was unable to vote, since he was 82 at the time of the conclave.
In 2006, he published his memoirs, Unde hoc mihi.
Transit
On April 10, 2012, at 4 a.m., after suffering from cardiovascular and renal complications, Cardinal Aponte Martínez was called home to the Father at the Hospital "Auxilio Mutuo", Hato Rey, San Juan.
Governor Luis Fortuño of Puerto Rico decreed five days of mourning because of the passing of the cardinal; and the mayor of San Juan, Jorge Santini, also decreed five days of mourning in the capital city. Religious leaders of Puerto Rico lamented the death of the cardinal and prayed for him and his family. A mass with the family of the cardinal will be celebrated on Tuesday April 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the metropolitan cathedral of San Juan by Archbishop Roberto González Nieves, O.F.M.
Funeral Arrangements
On Wednesday, April 11, the body of the cardinal will be taken to Lajas, where he was born, where a mass will be celebrated in the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria, at 7:30 p.m., by the bishop of Mayagüez, Álvaro Corrada del Río, S.J.. On Thursday April 12, the body will be transferred to San Germán, where the cardinal was ordained priest, and a mass will be offered at 11:00 a.m. On Friday April 13, the body of the late cardinal will be in the cathedral of Ponce. On Saturday April 14 in the morning, the velatory will begin in the church of Santa Teresita and will continue on Sunday at 5:00 p.m., after the masses of the day. On Monday morning, April 16, the body will be taken to the metropolitan cathedral of San Juan, in Old San Juan, where it will be exposed until 3:00 p.m.; and then the exequial mass will be presided over by Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, O.F.M., archbishop emeritus of Sevilla, Spain. Successively, the late cardinal will be buried in that cathedral. (Sources 1, 2 3.)
Let us pray:
May the angels lead you into paradise;
may the martyrs come to welcome you
and take you to the holy city,
the new and eternal Jerusalem.
May choirs of angels welcome you
and lead you to the bosom of Abraham;
and where Lazarus is poor no longer
may you find eternal rest.
Whoever believes in me, even though that person die, shall live.
I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.