THE UNIVERSITY has welcomed the elevation of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales as cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI.
“Since Manila is the oldest seat of Christianity in the Philippines, it is only proper that the archbishop of Manila should be a cardinal,” said Fr. Ernesto Arceo, Central Seminary rector and Faculty of Philosophy acting dean. “I think he (Rosales) deserves it because he has been in the ministry for a long time, dedicated and committed especially in the service of the poor.”
As of press time, Rosales is in Rome to receive the red hat from Pope Benedict in a consistory on March 24.
With only a year and five months before reaching the canonical retirement age of 75 for bishops, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales, 73, was elevated as one of the 15 new cardinals by the Vatican last month.
“I feel totally unworthy and certainly incompetent in a sense because of the expectations of some people but not incompetent in as much as what God wants me to do,” Rosales said in a press conference last March 15 at the Arzobispado de Manila.
As a cardinal, Rosales will be joining the activities of the College of Cardinals, which include electing a new pope and helping the Holy Father more than a billion Catholics worldwide.
“A cardinal enters into a special relationship with the Church,” Rosales said. “Cardinals are selected, not because of their age or experiences, but to become special counselors and assistants of the Holy Father in shepherding the Universal Church.”
Asked what he would tell the Pope about the Philippines, Rosales said he will only “fail to repeat history” if he follows his predecessor’s footsteps.
“Let us all be students of history,” Rosales said. “We are wise men. We want to be intelligent and responsible, we don’t repeat. Things like that are not repeated.”
Before celebrating his 48th Sacerdotal Anniversary on March 23, Rosales will fly to Rome to attend the Public Consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica on March 24, where the new princes of the Church will be handed the cardinal’s ring and the biretta, the red cap worn by Roman Catholic cardinals.
On March 30, Rosales will return to Manila and will preside over a thanksgiving Mass at the Manila Cathedral on April 1, where national Catholic delegations, key political figures, and diplomats are expected to attend.
Rosales is now the third living Filipino cardinal, after Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and Archbishop Emeritus of Rome Jose Cardinal Sanchez.
Meanwhile, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Thomasian Jose Palma, Bishop of Calbayog, as the new Archbishop of Palo following the retirement of Archbishop Pedro Dean last month.
Dean, who earned his Bachelor and Licentiate degrees in Sacred Theology at the Faculty of Sacred Theology in 1954 and 1956, tendered his resignation last February 21 after turning 75 in accordance with the Canon Law. He will remain as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Palo until Palma’s installation. No date has been set for the installation of Palma.
Palma earned his Licentiate degree in Sacred Theology also at the Faculty of Sacred Theology, magna cum laude, in 1980. With reports from Miko L. Morelos
