José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia

Who was José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia?

José María Martín de Herrera y de la Iglesia was a long-serving cardinal in the Roman Catholic Church in the early years of the twentieth century. Unusually, he served as archbishop of dioceses in more than one different country, being both archbishop of Santiago de Cuba and of Santiago de Compostela during his career in the Church

Ordained in 1858, José María Martín quickly showed his ability in theology and canon law. However, rather than become a theology professor he spent the following seventeen years in pastoral work before he was chosen as an Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba at the relatively young age of forty.

Although he was aided by several other prominent Spaniards in administering his Cuban diocese, José María Martín was eventually returned to Spain in the more prestigious role of Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela in 1889. He was elevated to Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in 1897 and participated in the 1903 and 1914 papal conclaves. However, by the time of the 1922 conclave Cardinal Martín was much too old to travel to Rome and thus he excused himself from participating. He died in December of that year.