A Filipino cardinal, who served for several years as Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation of the Clergy in the Vatican, died on Friday morning. Cardinal Jose Sanchez returned to the country only a year ago, and was confined at the Cardinal Santos Hospital in San Juan. He was 91.
“The loss of Cardinal Sanchez will be deeply felt by the Catholic Church the world over,” said Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte.
Valte said the Palace joins the Catholic faithful in mourning the loss of Cardinal Sanchez,
archbishop Emeritus of Nueva Segovia.
“Prior to his death, Cardinal Sanchez served as Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Roman Curia from 1985 to 1991, and was the first Filipino to have served in different capacities in the Holy See,” Valte said.
Cardinal Sanchez was born in Catanduanes and has served the Church since he was ordained as a priest in 1946.
Valte said Cardinal Sanchez was one of the six Filipino cardinals since the papacy of John XXIII.
He became Cardinal of San Pio V a Villa Carpegne in 1991 and was subsequently appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy as well as President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.