Manila Welcomes A New Archbishop

It is indeed welcome news that, finally, Manila has a new archbishop in the person of Cardinal Jose Fuerte Advincula. As the country with the biggest population of Catholics in Asia, Manila is the largest archdiocese, with more than 80 parishes serving three million devotees. Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Advincula as archbishop, which was vacant for 15 months, when Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle was transferred to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican on Dec. 8, 2019.

In a profile, Cardinal Advincula’s most recent post was archbishop of the archdiocese of Capiz, the province where he was born in 1952. His high school study was spent at the Pius X Seminary High School in Roxas City. Eventually, he took up theology at the University of Santo Tomas.

His journey to the priesthood started in 1970. From there, the young Advincula took studies in different schools such as UST and De La Salle University, and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas AquinasAngelicum in Rome, Italy, where he obtained a licentiate in Canon Law. He was an ordained priest in 1976.