CEBU (UCAN): Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu as a member of the newly-established Dicastery for Culture and Education.
“This symbolises the pope’s trust not only in the archbishop but in every Filipino,” the Archdiocese of Cebu said in a statement when it announced the appointment on February 12.
The dicastery was formed through the merger of the Congregation for Catholic Education and the former Pontifical Council for Culture, where Archbishop Palma was previously a member.
The dicastery works to promote culture and enhance cultural heritage. Its education section deals with fundamental principles of education regarding Catholic and ecclesiastical institutions, as published Church documents show.
Some priests in the archdiocese said Archbishop Palma would be the voice of minorities at the Vatican.
“There are so many cultural minorities in the Philippines. We hope Archbishop Palma will bring to the body his experience with cultural minorities here,” Father Mhar Balili said.
A group of catechists from Manila hailed Pope Francis for appointing archbishop.
Silvia Paredes said that with his [Archbishop Palma] experience, the Vatican can now put out guidelines for cultural minorities. “We need to disseminate faith by opening doors of culture,” Paredes said.
A human rights group fighting for indigenous people urged the archbishop to highlight the abuses inflicted on the Lumad indigenous of Mindanao, whose ancestral lands are under threat from private corporations.
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“Our Lumads are continuously deprived of their ancestral lands. Certainly, they need to be protected,” James Cruz, a member of Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organisations, said.
