Capiz archbishop and incoming Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula. (Photos courtesy of Archdiocese of Capiz)
ILOILOCITY––After two postponements, the historic bestowal ceremony for Jose Cardinal Advincula, the ninth Filipino cardinal and the first to hail from Capiz province was held Friday in Roxas City, amid heightened community quarantine restrictions.
Wearing a red face mask and shield, Advincula knelt before papal nuncio to the Philippines Archbishop John Brown before receiving the red biretta or cardinal hat and cardinal ring at the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral.
Brown, who led the 20-minute ceremony, also titularly assigned Advincula to the St. Vigilius Church in the Diocese of Rome. He called the holding of the ceremony in Capiz “a day of extraordinary joy.”
Advincula, 69, celebrated Mass after the ceremony.
In his homily, the cardinal said he had expected to serve in Capiz “until the Lord calls me back to Him.” But he said he would embrace his new responsibility as the new archbishop of Manila.
Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula
The bestowal ceremony, usually conducted at the Vatican by the Pope, was held six days before Advincula is installed on June 24 as the 33rd Archbishop of Manila.
Roxas City is under modified enhanced community quarantine until June 30 due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
The ceremony was streamed on the social media pages of the archdiocese as only a limited number of guests were invited and present at the cathedral.
They include the clergy of Capiz, representatives of the religious and lay organizations, Jaro Archbishop Jose Romeo Lazo and Kalibo Bishop Jose Corazon Tala-oc, Capiz Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras, and Roxas City Mayor Ronnie Dadivas.
“This blessing is a historical milestone for the city of Roxas and the province of Capiz. We are one with Cardinal Advincula as he takes on the new mission of being the ninth Filipino cardinal in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines as well as the 33rd archbishop of the Archdiocese of Manila,” Dadivas said in a statement sent to The INQUIRER.