Pope names Manila archbishop to Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops

Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula said it is important for the country’s over 60 million voters to be smart in selecting good leaders for the benefit of society, especially given the many challenges the country is currently facing. (File photo: SMMRS, CBCP via PNA)

MANILA – Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula has been named as part of a Vatican department that will help Pope Francis choose future bishops all over the world.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website reported that the Holy Father appointed the Filipino cardinal to be part of the Dicastery for Bishops on Wednesday (Vatican time).

Advincula was appointed together with three women, which is the first time that women have been appointed to the dicastery.

The cardinal’s appointment to the Dicastery for Bishops is the second time for him to be a member of a Vatican office since becoming a cardinal in 2020.

In December 2020, the Pontiff appointed Advincula as a member of the Congregation for the Clergy.

The members of the Dicastery that have also been appointed by the Pope are Cardinal Anders Arborelius, OCD, Bishop of Stockholm (Sweden); Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church; Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops; Cardinal Arthur Roche, Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments; Cardinal-elect Lazzaro You Heung-sik, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy; Cardinal-elect Jean-Marc Aveline, Archbishop of Marseille (France) and Cardinal-elect Oscar Cantoni, Bishop of Como (Italy).

Also named members of the Vatican office are Archbishop Dražen Kutleša of Split-Makarska (Croatia); Bishop Paul Desmond Tighe, Secretary of the former Pontifical Council for Culture; Father Dom Donato Ogliari, OSB, Abbot of the Abbey of San Paolo fuori le Mura and Apostolic Administrator of the Territorial Abbey of Montecassino (Italy); Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, Secretary General of the Governorate of the Vatican City State; Sister Yvonne Reungoat, FMA, former Superior General of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and Doctor Maria Lia Zervino, President of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.

The Vatican News reported that the nomination of Ms. Zervino also marks the first-ever appointment of a laywoman to the Vatican dicastery.