Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Caloocan presides over an online mass at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City, on the feast day of the patron saint against contagious diseases, August 16, 2021, amid the enhanced community quarantine. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA (UPDATED) -- The Philippines is set to have a new cardinal.

Pope Francis has picked the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David as new cardinal along with 20 other clergymen from all over the world. 

The pontiff made the announcement during his Angelus prayer at the Vatican on Sunday, October 6, 2024. 

The pope said the consistory for the creation of new cardinals will be held on December 8, 2024, just a few days before the opening of the Jubilee Year of 2025. 

David is in his second term as president of the conference of Filipino bishops, a post that he has held since 2021. 

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He has been serving as the bishop of the Diocese of Kalookan since 2016 after his stint as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Fernando in Pampanga.

In 2019, David received the backing of Pope Francis after getting death threats amid his scathing criticism of former president Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs. 

His diocese, which comprises the secular territories of Malabon, Navotas, and the southern portion of Caloocan, saw several young victims who were killed during the former administration's violent campaign against illegal drugs. 

In an interview with Vatican News, David at that time said the pope told him that he was well informed of the situation in the Philippines. 

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The bishop introduced several programs in the diocese for community-based drug rehabilitation programs. 

“I have opened my parishes for drug rehabilitation and I believe it is a way of saving lives,” David said in an interview with Vatican News. 

Born in Betis, a district in Pampanga known for master woodcarvers of sacred arts, David is a prominent Bible scholar. 

He obtained his licentiate and doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. Meanwhile, he earned his bachelor’s degree in Pre-Divinity from Ateneo and his master’s degree in Theology from the Loyola School of Theology.

10TH FILIPINO CARDINAL IN HISTORY

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula presides the Misa Mayor  in honor of the Black Nazarene at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila to commemorate the Traslacion  on January 9, 2024. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File The 65-year-old native of Pampanga will be the 10th Filipino cardinal, following: 

- Jose Cardinal Advincula, archbishop of Manila 

- Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and former archbishop of Manila

- Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, former archbishop of Manila

- Jaime Cardinal Sin, former archbishop of Manila

- Rufino Cardinal Santos, former archbishop of Manila

- Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, former archbishop of Cebu

- Julio Cardinal Rosales, former archbishop of Cebu

- Orlando Cardinal Quevedo, former archbishop of Cotabato

- Jose Cardinal Sanchez, former prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy 

Cardinals, traditionally called "princes of the Church," serve as advisers to the pontiff. But their main duty is to attend the conclave where they elect a new pope in case of a papal death or abdication. 

Prior to David's appointment, only two among the four living Filipino cardinals are eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope -- Tagle and Advincula. 

This is because cardinals who are already over the age of 80 are no longer eligible to vote in a conclave. 

David's elevation to the College of Cardinals would raise the Philippines representation in the next conclave.

The choice of the new Filipino cardinal further reflects Pope Francis's style of choosing his closest collaborators from what he calls the "peripheries" of the world.

As such, the pontiff has chosen cardinals from areas that have not seen their own "prince of the Church" in the past. In 2020, the pontiff named Bishop Cornelius Sim of Brunei Darussalam, a predominantly Muslim country in Southeast Asia, its first cardinal.

Traditionally, in the Philippines, cardinals were often the archbishops of the archdioceses of Cebu and Manila. 

OTHER CARDINALS 

Aside from David, three other prelates were chosen from Asia, including Bogor Bishop Paskalis Bruno Syukur from Indonesia, Tokyo Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi from Japan, and Tehran Ispahan Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu from Iran. 

The names of the other soon-to-be cardinals are as follows: 

- Angelo Acerbi, apostolic nuncio

- Carlos Gustavo Castillo Mattasoglio, archbishop of Lima (Peru)

- Vicente Bokalic Iglic, archbishop of Santiago del Estero (Argentina)

- Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador)

- Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib, archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Chile)

- Ladislav Nemet, archbishop of Beograd-Smederevo (Serbia) 

- Jaime Spengler, archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil)

- Ignace Bessi Dogbo, archbishop of Abidjan (Ivory Coast)

- Jean-Paul Vesco, archbishop of Alger (Algeria)

- Dominique Joseph Mathieu, archbishop of Tehran Ispahan (Iran)

- Roberto Repole, archbishop of Turin (Italy)

- Baldassare Reina, auxiliary bishop and Viceregent of Rome

- Francis Leo, archbishop of Toronto (Canada)

- Rolandas Makrickas, archpriest coadjutor of Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major

- Mykola Bychok, bishop of the Eparchy Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians

- Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe, theologian

- Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development with responsibility for migrants and refugees

- George Jacob Koovakad, official of the secretary of state responsible for papal travels

Pope Francis said the inclusion of cardinals from all over various continents cements the connection of the Diocese of Rome to local churches across the world.

"Their origins expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God's merciful love to all men on earth," the pope said in Italian.   

"Let us pray for the new cardinals, so that by confirming their adherence to Christ, the merciful and faithful High Priest, they will help me in the ministry of Bishop of Rome for the good of all the holy people of God." 

Among the new cardinals, 20 of them are under the age of 80 and are eligible to vote in a conclave. 

The appointments further widened the majority of cardinal electors chosen by Pope Francis compared to those who were picked by his two immediate predecessors -- Benedict XVI and John Paul II. 

Vatican observers have long viewed Francis's manner of choosing cardinals who have the same pastoral style as him as an attempt to ensure the continuity of the reforms he has enforced in the Catholic Church since his election in 2013.

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