SPANISH friar Fr. Pedro Gonzalez Tejero, O.P., who served as the vicar provincial of the Dominican Vicariate of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Philippines, passed away on Thursday, Aug. 4. He was 101.
Tejero died due to old age, according to the Santo Domingo Convent in Quezon City.
Tejero was a professor at the University from 1979 until his retirement. He was also the longest-serving spiritual director of the UST Central Seminary, from 1990 to 2013.
In 2008, UST Rector Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, O.P. bestowed upon Tejero the lifetime achievement award for his mission among the Chinese in Manila from 1983 to 1990 and for documenting the Order’s work in his 1993 book, “Binondo: 400 years of Dominican Apostolate.”
From 1986 to 1989, Tejero served as superior of the House of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Binondo, Manila after becoming the first prior regional of the newly created Vicariate in the Philippines from 1978 to 1982.
Tejero was born in Palencia, Spain on Aug. 30, 1920.
After his profession at the Convent of Santo Domingo in Ocaña, Toledo, he began his institutional studies in philosophy from 1941 to 1945 and theology from 1945 to 1946.
He was ordained priest on June 5, 1947 at the Dominican House in River Forest, Illinois.
In the same convent, he completed theology courses and obtained a master’s degree in 1948.
Tejero taught at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Manila from 1949 to 1954.
In 1952, he was appointed as national promoter of the Holy Name Society of the Philippines, a confraternity entrusted to the Dominican Order.
He served as prior of Santo Domingo Convent from 1954 to 1957.
Tejero personally knew two Thomasian martyrs of the Spanish Civil War: Blessed Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. and Blessed Manuel Moreno Martinez, O.P.
Tejero’s wake and prayer vigil will be held on Friday, Aug. 5, 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. at the UST Central Seminary Chapel.
The funeral Mass will be on Aug. 6, 9 a.m. at the UST Main Chapel, followed by interment at the Santuario del Santo Cristo in San Juan.
