POPE FRANCIS promoted Thomasian Archbishop Jose Advincula of Capiz to rank of cardinal on Oct. 25, making him the ninth cardinal from the Philippines.
Advincula will be among the 13 new cardinals to be created in a consistory on Nov. 28, the Pope announced during his Sunday Angelus at the Vatican.
Advincula told CBCP News he thought the announcement was a mistake as there were other prelates in his region named “Jose.”
“My initial reaction is the fear of that responsibility. If there is that feeling of joy, it’s very small because my feelings are focused on the responsibility that is given to me,” he said.
The Capiz archbishop follows eight other Filipinos elevated to the College of Cardinals, whose members are traditionally the Pope’s closest collaborators: Luis Antonio Tagle, Orlando Quevedo and Gaudencio Rosales, and the late clerics Jose Sanchez, Ricardo Vidal, Jaime Sin, Julio Rosales and Rufino Santos.
Advincula, 68, and Tagle, 63, will be eligible to join a conclave to elect the Pope’s successor.
The cardinal-elect studied theology and canon law in UST, a pontifical university.
Advincula was born on March 30, 1952 in Dumalag, Capiz and was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of Capiz in 1976.
In 2001, he served as bishop of San Carlos in Negros Occidental. He has been serving as archbishop of Capiz since January 2012.
Advincula is also vice chairman of the Committee on International Eucharistic Congresses and the Office on Women of the Catholic the Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Among the 13 new cardinals, nine are under the age of 80 and eligible to elect the next Pontiff in conclave.
