Pope Francis on Saturday formally elevated Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan to the rank of cardinal.
David, also president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, received his red hat, along with 20 others, during a consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.
It was the pope’s 10th consistory to create new cardinals from six continents during his 11-year pontificate.
During the ceremony, the new cardinals recited the Creed to make a profession of faith, then took an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope and his successors.
Each cardinal approached the pope, kneeling before him to receive the red biretta, the cardinal’s ring, and a document naming their titular church.
Each new cardinal is given a titular church in Rome to signify his connection to the Diocese of Rome and the pope’s pastoral ministry.
David was assigned the deaconry of Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a 20th-century church in the western suburbs of Rome.
The pope, in his homily, encouraged them to “walk in the way of Jesus: together, with humility, wonder and joy.”
“To walk in the path of Jesus means above all to return to him and to put him back at the center of everything,” Pope Francis said.
“To walk in the path of Jesus also means to cultivate a passion for encounter,” the continued, noting that “Jesus never walked alone.”
On his path, the pope said, he “encountered the faces of those who were suffering and those who had lost hope”.
“To walk in the path of Jesus means, in the end, to be builders of communion and unity,” he added.
After the consistory, the College of Cardinals has 256 members, including 141 electors and 115 non-electors.
The cardinals will choose the next pope, and it is almost certain the next pope will be one of them.
Of the 141 cardinals under 80 years old, 111 were appointed by Pope Francis since his election in 2013, 24 by Pope Benedict XVI, and six by Pope John Paul II.
David is the 10th Filipino cardinal in history and serves as one of the closest advisers to the 87-year-old pontiff.
Ordained priest of the Archdiocese of San Fernando in 1983, David was named auxiliary bishop there in 2006 at the age of 47. In 2015, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Kalookan.
David has also served as president of the CBCP since 2021.
In February, he was elected vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences or FABC.
He was also recently chosen for a 17-member council to oversee the implementation of the synodality process and prepare for the next meeting of the Synod of Bishops.
