In the afternoon of October 26, 2016 (Wednesday), Rev. Fr. Fidel E. Villarroel, O.P., UST鈥檚 archivist for close to four decades, was laid to rest beside his brethren in the Santuario del Santo Cristo Cemetery in San Juan City. This culminated a three-day wake that began in the evening of October 23, 2016 (Sunday).
Unique, irreplaceable
In his homily, former UST Rector Fr. Rolando V. de la Rosa, O.P., himself a historian, paid homage to Fr. Villarroel, saying that no one else can claim to have given the Philippines its first saint, San Lorenzo Ruiz. 鈥淪an Lorenzo Ruiz and his companion martyrs as well as the Thomasian martyrs are all in heaven giving Fr. Fidel a grand welcome.鈥�
Fr. Villarroel鈥檚 tenacity, patience, and diligence in scouring through centuries of archival references make him truly one of a kind. 鈥淔r. Fidel鈥檚 works debunked myths that were otherwise taken as historical truth, through his years of hard work and research,鈥� Fr. de la Rosa said.
The end of an era
Fr. de la Rosa lamented, though, that Fr. Villarroel鈥檚 death signaled the end of an era of preeminent Spanish Dominican historians鈥攖he triumvirate of Fr. Pablo Fernandez, O.P., Fr. Lucio Gutierrez, O.P., and Fr. Villarroel. 鈥淔r. Fidel鈥檚 death poses a challenge to the young Filipino Dominicans to continue the mission of writing about history.鈥� The Prior of the Priory of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Fr. Rolando M. Castro, O.P., in a chance interview echoed the same sentiment: 鈥淔r. Fidel and his contributions, his scholarly work should serve as an inspiration to the next generations of Dominicans.鈥�
Muchas gracias
After the internment, Fr. Angel Aparicio, O.P., Prefect of Libraries, thanked the late archivist and Prefect of Libraries, fondly calling him 鈥淯ncle Fidel.鈥� 鈥淯ncle Fidel, your mother country Spain is always proud of you.鈥� Fr. Aparicio underscored Fr. Villarroel鈥檚 faithfulness to his mission, for 鈥渉e chose to live and die in the place of his mission [the Philippines].鈥� At this point, Fr. Aparicio thanked the Dominican communities from the Provinces of the Holy Rosary and the Philippines, as well as the people whom Fr. Fidel worked with.
The holder of the master key to UST鈥檚 past
Fr. Villarroel was ordained in 1953 and assigned to UST in 1957. Demonstrating great love for history, Fr. Villarroel was appointed as the UST Archivist, a post he held for close to forty years. He juggled this duty along with being Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature for 32 years, Prefect of Libraries of UST, and head of UST鈥檚 old Spanish Department.
His works have been recognized, too. Fr. Villarroel was awarded the Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice award from Pope John Paul II in 1984, the Cruz de la Isabella Catolica from King Juan Carlos of Spain in 1985, and the title Master of Sacred Theology in 2009.
Fr. Villarroel, who wrote extensively on Church history in the Philippines, is also known as the 鈥減rolific saint maker,鈥� having written the positio that led to the canonization of San Lorenzo Ruiz and the beatification of San Lorenzo Ruiz鈥檚 companion martyrs and the Thomasian martyrs. He also wrote the positio for Servant of God Mother Francisca del Espiritu Santo, foundress of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena.
Among his best works are the book Jose Rizal and the 探花精选, Miguel de Benavides, and the two-volume History of the 探花精选.
