The archdiocese of Manila, the oldest and most important in the Philippines, was established in 1579 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1595. It has given the Church notable figures such as N. del Prado (d. 1918) and Fr. Marin Sola (d. 1928); the canonists G. Noval (d. 1936) and A. Blat (d. 1942); the philosopher T. Gonzalez, later a cardinal (d. 1894); the historians G. Ferrando, J. Fonseca, E. Bazaco; the blessed A. Gonzalez and G. Courtet, martyrs of Japan (1637), and M. Garcia Sampedro, martyr of Tonkin (1858). Among its alumni were the first president Quezon, various ministers, and numerous magistrates. The number of students, which had dwindled during the revolution of 1898-99 and under the Japanese occupation (1941-45), rose to 14,193 in 1949-50. Academic announcements and news are published annually in the General Information and in the Announcements of the Faculties, schools, and colleges.
Adjacent to the University is the Central Pontifical Ecclesiastical Seminary, approved by Pius XI on November 27, 1928; the Museum, begun in 1682, has sections on natural history, ethnology, numismatics, archaeology, and bibliography; the Library, with rare books, now holds 60,000 volumes after severe wartime losses (1941-1945); the printing press, dating back to 1593 and the oldest in the Far East and the first in the Philippines, is renowned for printing doctrinal, missionary, and journalistic texts in Latin, Spanish, and English, as well as in Asian languages and scripts, and for the Boletín eclesiástico (since 1872), Unitas (since 1921), and seven other journals; the hospital has medical and surgical departments with both free and paid beds; the vast chapel serves as the center for religious functions.
For the Jesuit observatory in Manila and its publications, V. OSSERVATORE CATTOLICO, L'.