FIRST - Native Born Puerto Rican Cardinal - San Juan, Puerto Rico
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 18° 27.941 W 066° 07.083
19Q E 804383 N 2044134
A biography, in Latin, above the tomb of Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist in San Juan, identifies him as the first native born Puerto Rican to be created a Cardinal.
Waymark Code: WM12E3Q
Location: Puerto Rico
Date Posted: 05/08/2020
Views: 0
A biography inscribed in Latin contains the operative phrase:
PRIMUS NATIONE PORTORICANUS A PAVLO SEXTO P M
V MART MCMLXXIII CARDINALIS CREATUS
Which translate in English to:
FIRST NATIVE PUERTO RICAN TO BE CREATED A CARDINAL BY POPE PAUL VI
5 MARCH 1973
where the abbreviation P M = Pontifex Maximus = Pope.
Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez is interred in a marble tomb in the Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of Saint John the Baptist. The tomb has a bronze cross with two cross bars on top and an impaled coat of arms with the coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Puerto Rico on the left and the personal arms of the cardinal on the right. The front is inscribed:
SU EMINENCIA REVERENDISIMA
LUIS CARDINAL APONTE MARTÍNEZ
Luis Aponte Martínez was born in Lajas, Puerto Rico on August 8, 1922. He studied in the Seminary of San Ildefonso in San Juan and the Seminary of Saint John in Boston, MA. He also attended Boston College and earned a a Doctorate from the Seminary of Saint Leo of Florida. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ponce in San German, Puerto Rico, on April 10, 1950.
He became the second native-born Puerto Rican in nearly 150 years to be consecrated as a bishop on October 12, 1960. He was appointed as a cardinal of the Archdiocese of Puerto Rico on March 5, 1973 by Pope Paul VI a position he held for 34 years until his death on April 10, 2012 at 89 years of age.
During is tenure as as a Cardinal he was the president of the board of directors of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, the president of the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference, and the Latin American Episcopal Conference. He also was instrumental in launching a television and radio station and a weekly publication called El Visitante (The Visitor) serving the Archdiocese of Puerto Rico.
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