Manila, Card. Advincula: I will be a shepherd who listens

The installation of the new archbishop in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. His program: "I will be close to young people and the people of the suburbs, where the faith is more fragile". On June 27, he will celebrate mass with the poor of the slums in Maricaban.

Manila (AsiaNews) - "I want to be a shepherd who listens," said Card. Jose Advincula during his official installation as the new archbishop of Manila. In a solemn ceremony, small in number due to the Covid-19 emergency, the prelate was welcomed into the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Intramuros, where he presided over the Eucharistic celebration that began his ministry.

Card. Advincula, who is 69, was archbishop of Capiz since 2011; even earlier, for 10 years, he was bishop of San Carlos, in the province of Western Negros. He was appointed archbishop of Manila by Pope Francis on March 25, succeeding Card. Luis Antonio Tagle, called to the Vatican as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Already in the consistory of November 2020, Bergoglio had created him a cardinal, thus becoming the 9th cardinal in the history of the Philippine Church. However, due to the pandemic, he was unable to receive the red cardinal's hat until last week, in a ceremony presided over in Capiz on behalf of the pope by the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, Charles John Brown.

The other two cardinals residing in the Philippines were present at the ceremony: the archbishop emeritus of Manila Gaudencio Rosales and Card. Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato. Card. Tagle sent an affectionate video message from Rome in which he urged Advincula not to be afraid: “Be who you are,” he told his successor.

For his part, in his homily, the new archbishop of Manila said that he never thought of being called to a new task at 69, but of having accepted it by letting himself be guided by his own episcopal motto which reads very simply "I will listen".

“It is my ardent desire to listento all but especially to the LAMBS which represent our youth and other people in the peripheries; because of less attention given them by the Church, their faith is as fragile as the health of a lamb – they are the first target of the marauding wolves. I cannot feed my flock unless I listen first to their needs, their longings. While listening to them, I would be able to journey with them – in their sorrow and joy, in their suffering and glory – and collaborate work with them, to bring them closer to Christ.”

In his inaugural address, Card. Advincula also spoke of the experience of the pandemic. “A good number of people would have been here with us if not for the pandemic. This scourge has crippled us in many ways; but it has enabled us, too, in more creative ways and has made us see clearly the things that we value most in our lives.  Some people may actually think that God has abandoned us. But instead, for us, steadfast believers, it simply shows forth God’s power in the midst of our helplessness; for we see God as our only help in our helplessness. God’s light shines on us in the midst of darkness.”

As a first visit, on Sunday 27 June Card. Advincula will go to one of the poorest areas of the metropolis, in the Maricaban district: he will visit the slum and celebrate mass in the church dedicated to Maria Conforto degli afflicenti. This is a gesture that has become a tradition for the new archbishops of Manila: before him, Card. Rosales and Cardinal Tagle went to Smokey Mountain immediately after their installation. This morning, however, Advincula went to the Church of the Gesù to pay homage to the funeral parlor of former president Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, who passed away yesterday.