Julio Cardinal Rosales Avenue, Cebu City
It is the major thoroughfare in Cebu City that connects Juan Luna (now Pope John Paul II Avenue) and Gorordo Avenue. The honoree was born in Calbayog, Samar, on Sept. 18, 1906. He was the son of spouses Basilio Rosales and Agueda Ras. He was ordained on June 2, 1929 and became Bishop of Tagbilaran on Sept. 21, 1946.
He was the second Filipino to become a Cardinal when he was appointed by the Pope in Rome on Mar. 28, 1968. He served as Archbishop of Cebu for a span of thirty-three years and it was during his term that the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral was renovated from being ruined during World War II.
He established 32 Catholic Schools, in every locality in Cebu aimed at providing education opportunities among the youth to become good and useful citizens, he also constructed the Patria de Cebu in 1954, constructed two seminaries (Minor and Junior College Department), created 32 parishes and 27 Catholic hospitals and orphanages.
It was during his watch, that two giant historical events took place in Cebu; the Fourth Centennial Christianization of the Philippines in 1965 and the 1981 Papal Visit of Blessed John Paul II.
He participated in two conclaves electing Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II, a very rare and remote opportunity to be given to an individual. He was an Adopted Son of Cebu City by virtue of Cebu City Council Resolution No. 265 dated February 6, 1975.
It is not only Julio that gave national prominence of the people of Calbayog, his younger brother, Decoroso also became a senator of the republic, elected in 1955 after serving as Governor of Samar. Decoroso Rosales was also a delegate of the 1971 Constitutional Convention.
The Cebu City Council on Nov. 13, 1995 enacted City Ordinance No. 1593 naming a street in honor of a Waray who served the people of Cebu and Central Visayas. The ordinance was approved by then City Mayor Alvin B. Garcia on Nov. 20, 1995.
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