Newly-appointed Manila archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula (File photo from CBCP)
MANILA – Newly-appointed Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula said he is ready but admitted that he felt scared when he learned of his new duty.
“I was scared, that’s what I felt after (Papal) Nuncio (Archbishop Charles Brown), told me that the Holy Father has appointed me, it’s because it will be my first time to be assigned in a highly urbanized area, Metro Manila, which is the capital of the country,” Advincula said in a Radio Veritas interview on Friday.
He, however, said he is ready to fulfill his new assignment which he described as "challenging".
Advincula added that this is another great chance for him to serve the faithful.
"Having been chosen by God to be one of his ordained ministers is already a gift for me, a gift not to be kept for myself alone but this is also a gift that should be used by me for the service of the people of God," Advincula added.
On Thursday, the Vatican announced that the pontiff has appointed Advincula as the new Manila archbishop.
He served as the head of the Diocese of San Carlos for a decade since 2001 before he was transferred to the Capiz archdiocese in 2012 up to the present.
Advincula succeeded Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, who was appointed by the Pope as Prefect of Congregation for the Evangelizations of Peoples in the Vatican last 2019.
Catholic prelates, meanwhile, welcomed Advincula's appointment.
“I am happy that we now have a shepherd," Apostolic Administrator of Manila, Bishop Broderick Pabillo, said.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David also said he is happy with Advincula's new designation.
“We are very happy to welcome Cardinal Joe Advincula as our new head of the Metropolitan Province of Manila, which the Diocese of Caloocan is also a part of,” he said. He is the second one from Panay Island to become both Cardinal and Archbishop of Manila. The first one was Cardinal Jaime Sin who was from Aklan, while Cardinal Joe Advincula is from Capiz,” said David, also the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. (PNA)
