Bishop David becomes PH’s 10th cardinal

National

THE Philippines now has 10 Filipino cardinals in history after Pope Francis bestowed the red hat (Biretta) on Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, elevating his title from Bishop to Cardinal on December 7.

David, also the president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines since 2021, is one of the 21 newly-appointed cardinals from five continents during an Ordinary Public Consistory at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

During the ceremony, each of the cardinals approached the pope and kneeled before him to receive the red hat, document naming their titular church, and the cardinal’s ring.

According to CBCP News, it is the pope’s 10th consistory to create new cardinals from six continents during his 11-year pontificate.

During the said ceremony, the new cardinals read the Creed “to make a profession of faith, then took an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successor.”

The new cardinals were given a titular church in Rome signifying each of their connections to the Diocese of Rome. For David, he was assigned to the 20th-century church in the western suburbs of Rome, the deaconry of Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

During his homily, the Pope encouraged the cardinals to “walk in the way of Jesus” with humility, wonder, and joy.

“To walk in the path of Jesus means above all to return to him and to put him back at the centre of everything,” Pope Francis said.

David was ordained as a priest of Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga in 1983 before he was named auxiliary bishop in 2006.

In 2015, David was appointed as bishop of the Diocese of Kalookan.(LAO)