Pontiff names Quevedo cardinal

In this July 13, 2011, file photo, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo reads the Catholic bishops’ pastoral statement during a Philippine Senate hearing in Manila. Quevedo is among the 19 new cardinals that Pope Francis announced Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, during his Angelus prayer from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square. AP PHOTO/BULLIT MARQUEZ

VATICAN CITY—Pope Francis on Sunday named Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo and 18 other prelates from Asia, Africa, and elsewhere, cardinals to reflect his attention to the poor.

Francis announced his first batch of cardinals as he spoke from his studio window to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square.

Quevedo, of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate order, is 74. He was ordained in 1964, moved up the ranks in the Philippine Church hierarchy and became archbishop of Cotabato in 1998.

Quevedo, who served as president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from 1999 to 2003, becomes the country’s second active cardinal, following the elevation of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle to the College of Cardinals in 2012.

Sixteen of the appointees are younger than 80, meaning they are eligible to elect the next Pope, which is a cardinal’s most important task. The ceremony to formally install them as cardinals will be held Feb. 22 at the Vatican.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the Pope’s selection of churchmen from Haiti and Burkino Faso, which are among the world’s poorest nations, reflects Francis’ attention to the destitute as a core part of the Church’s mission.

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