Pope may promote Cebu, Manila prelates

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma is one of two Philippine prelates being eyed as candidates to be named cardinal in the next few months.

The other is  Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle.

A senior prelate said  he is hoping the Vatican will promote a Filipino bishop to  cardinal soon since the Philippines no longer has a representative  in the Catholic conclave for the first time since the 1960s.

A conclave is the high level meeting of Roman Catholic cardinals called to elect a new Pope when there’s a vacancy.

Retired Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said he expects Pope Benedict XVI to consider two Filipino bishops for the cardinalate in the next consistory in Rome. The last one was held in February 2012.

“At least for the moment we can expect two cardinals in the meeting, the Cardinal Archbishop of Cebu and the Cardinal Archbishop of Manila,” he said.

“In principle, the successor of a cardinal in an archdiocese also becomes a cardinal in due time.”

Retired Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, the country’s only representative in the conclave, lost his seat when he turned 80 years old on Aug. 10.

Cebu’s retired archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal is 81 and can no longer vote as well.

They are the two living Filipino cardinals.

Cruz said the archbishop of Manila and Cebu could be headed for the cardinalate next year.

Palma is currently the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The conclave elects a new pope in case of a vacancy, due to a rule made by Pope Paul VI in 1970 which limits the participation of cardinals once they reach the age of 80.

Another Filipino cardinal, Jose Cardinal Sanchez, died last March. Sanchez served as prefect emeritus of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy. /INQUIRER