Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes was born on March 24, 1892, in Kalibo, Capiz, to Filipino parents. At the age of 13, he entered the Seminary of Jaro which was then directed by the Vincentian Fathers. Bishop Dennis Dougherty of Jaro, who later became Cardinal Archbishop of Philadelphia, U.S.A., ordained him on March 27, 1915, after which he was immediately appointed Coadjutor Parish Priest of the Cardinal becoming in a few months its Parish Priest. As Parish Priest of Balasan (1915) he covered sixteen small islands many of which of neither roads nor chapels nor convents, but only ruins and an increasing number of Aglipayans and Protestants. These became the field of action of the energetic Gabriel until he became a Parish Priest of Capiz, Capiz (1918).  On  July 20, 1820, Bishop James McClosky chose him to be the Diocesan Chancellor and Secretary and, at the same time, a Parish Priest of Sta. Barbara. In 1927, he became Vicar General of Jaro. On October 11, 1932, Monsignor Gabriel Reyes was ordained Bishop of Cebu in the Cardinal of Jaro by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Guillermo Piani, S.D.B., with the assistance of Bishop James McClosky of  Jaro and Bishop Alfredo Verzosa of Lipa. Two days later, he was installed in Cebu.  On April 28, 1934, Cebu, after more than three centuries was elevated by Pope Pius XI into an Archdiocese with Bishop Gabriel Reyes as the First Archbishop. As the Ecclesiastical Province of Santisimo Nombre de Jesus Cebu had for its suffragans in 1934 the following: the Diocese of Jaro (1865), Calbayog (1910), Zamboanga (1910), Bacolod (1932 detached from Manila), and Cagayan de Oro (1933). With the able hands of Archbishop Gabriel Reyes, the Archdiocese began to embark on a series of noble projects designed to nurture the faith that had already been planted. In September of 1934, the weekly newspaper Lungsuranon appeared in its maiden issue. It was to help instruct the faithful on the fundamentals of the faith and to hold in check the advances of the other sectarian propaganda. The Archbishop encouraged the establishment of “Catholic Action” in the Parishes of Cebu and Bohol as well as the Catechesis for children and the Association of Propagation of Faith. He ordered the holding of Diocesan Eucharistic Congresses in all the Parishes of the Archdiocese for the preparation of the International Eucharistic Congress which was scheduled in Manila in February of 1937. In 1933 he established in Cebu the Adoracion Nocturna Filipina and in 1940 the Knights of Columbus. On July 27 – 29, 1937 he convoked the Third Diocesan Synod of Cebu where decrees adjusted to the new code of Canon Law (1918) were adopted. Truly a pastor of souls, Archbishop Reyes himself handled spiritual exercises for the common laborers, with hundreds of them attending every year. Giving concrete responses to the evangelical imperative in works of mercy, Archbishop Reyes laid the foundation stone in 1939 for a large structure of the Asilo de Milagrosa to take care of the orphans and the aged. He supported the Association of St. Vincent de Paul to help the poor and the needy. Furthermore, he erected the now-defunct Holy Child Hospital with the same purpose in mind. To mark the celebration of his Sacerdotal Silver Jubilee in 1940, Archbishop Reyes embellished the Cathedral erecting therein a marble altar which unfortunately did not survive the war. He encouraged religious vocation among the youth and ordained every year dozens of new candidates to the priesthood. He established the Parishes of Guadalupe, Tabuelan, Simala, and Santa Lucia to add to the existing parish, and launched a more vigorous evangelization program. He started the “Catholic Hour” over the radio station DZRC. In 1945 the Treaty of Peace was signed. The Archbishop, pained almost to the point of nervous breakdown by the great destruction caused by the Second World War, such as the destruction of the Cathedral, his residence, the seminary, several churches, convents, and colleges, resigned to the will of God, commenced the work of reconstruction. His labor did not pass unrecognized for on August 25, 1949, he was appointed by the Holy Father Pius XII as Coadjutor to Archbishop Michael O’Doherty of Manila with right of succession (and Apostolic Administrator sede plena). With the death of the Archbishop, he took canonical possession of the archiepiscopal See of Manila with the distinction of being its first Filipino Archbishop (September 29, 1949). Archbishop Gabriel Reyes has the distinction of being succeeded by two who have become Princes of the Church: Julio Cardinal Rosales who succeeded him in Cebu and Rufino Cardinal Santos who succeeded him in Manila.