Cardinal Jose Advincula received the red hat and ring on June 18, in what was his last big event in the Capiz archdiocese, reported CBCP News.
In a simple yet solemn ceremony, Advincula knelt before the papal nuncio, Archbishop Charles Brown, who bestowed upon him the cardinal’s insignia.
Only two bishops and a few dozens of priests, all in masks, were in attendance, sitting spaced apart before a very limited audience and guests. This is the result of ongoing restrictions in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The event at the Immaculate Conception Metropolitan Cathedral in Roxas City was held six days before he assumes his new post as archbishop of Manila.
After the bestowal ceremony, the cardinal presided over a Thanksgiving Mass where he asked the faithful to pray for him as he takes his new ministry.
In his homily, Advincula admitted he expected to serve in Capiz “until the Lord calls me back to him”.
“But the Holy Father has called to go to Manila and I have to obey,” he said. “Please accompany me with your prayers as I journey into this new field of ministry.”
The ceremony is usually held in the Vatican but Advincula did not attend the November 2020 consistory because of Covid-19 travel restrictions.
Saying that the celebration “very infrequently takes place outside of Rome”, Brown described the ceremony in Capiz as “a day of extraordinary joy”.
“So we wish Cardinal Advincula all the best in his final days here in Capiz and we promise that we will pray for him,” he said.
Born on March 30, 1952, in Capiz’s Dumalag town, Advincula was ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1976.
The 68-year old cardinal was the spiritual director of the St. Pius X Seminary, where he was also professor and dean of education.
He subsequently began his studies in psychology at the De La Salle University of Manila, and in canon law at the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas of Manila, and at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas-Angelicum in Rome, obtaining a licentiate in canon law.
Back home, he served in the seminaries of Vigan, Nueva Segovia, and in the regional seminary of Jaro.
In 1995, he was appointed rector of the St. Pius X Seminary of Capiz and became the Defender of the Bond, promoter of justice, and finally judicial vicar of the archdiocese.
Advincula then became parish priest of Saint Thomas of Villanueva in Dao in 1999.
He was appointed bishop of San Carlos in July 2001 and was transferred to Capiz in 2011, after the retirement of Archbishop Onesim Cordoncillo.
In October last year, the pope named Advincula as among the 13 new cardinals. He was elevated at a consistory on November 28, 2020.
