MANILA – Cardinal Jose Advincula, a native of Dumalag, Capiz, has been appointed by Pope Francis as the new Archbishop of Manila, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.
The appointment of Advincula as Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle’s successor was made public at noontime in Rome, Italy, or at 7 o’clock last night.
Tagle, now the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican, left the post in February 2020 and the archdiocese had no bishop since then.
Prior to this appointment, the 68-year-old Advincula was made by Pope Francis a cardinal in October 2020. He was elevated in a consistory on Nov. 28, 2020.
Advincula, born on March 30, 1952, was ordained a priest in 1976. He became the spiritual director of the St. Pius X Seminary where he was also a professor and dean of education.
Advincula studied psychology at the De La Salle University of Manila before studying canon law at the University of Santo Tomas, and obtained a licentiate in canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas-Angelicum in Rome.
Advincula served in the seminaries of Vigan, Nueva Segovia and in the regional seminary of Jaro before being appointed as rector of St. Pius X Seminary of Capiz and became the archdiocese’s Defender of the Bond, Promoter of Justice and Judicial Vicar.
Advincula had also served as parish priest of Saint Thomas of Villanueva in Dao in 1999 and was appointed as bishop of San Carlos in July 2001 before being transferred to Capiz in 2011.
CBCP president Archbishop Romulo Valles congratulated Advincula.
“I wish the archbishop-elect God’s abundant blessing in his new mission and offer him our continued prayers and support,” Valles said in a statement posted on the CBCP website.
Advincula was the third archbishop of Manila born in Western Visayas.
The two others were Archbishop Gabriel Reyes (28th Manila archbishop) from Kalibo (then a part of Capiz), and Jaime Cardinal Sin (30th Manila archbishop) from New Washington, Aklan./PN
