MANILA (UCAN): Archbishop Charles John Brown, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines announced, on February 25 that Pope Francis would soon name the next archbishop of Manila to fill the post made vacant by Luis Cardinal Tagle more than a year ago.
“I do not think the waiting will go on much longer. The appointment of a new papal nuncio makes the process (of naming the new archbishop) much faster,” Archbishop Brown said in an interview on national television.
Cardinal Tagle left for Rome at the start of 2020 to become dean of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
Pope Francis made Bishop Broderick Pabillo Manila’s apostolic administrator pending the appointment of a new archbishop.
The nuncio also said that the Philippines’ largest archdiocese—with three million Catholics in more than 80 parishes—needed a shepherd.
“Given the numbers of Catholics … I think it will not take too long for Cardinal Tagle’s successor to be appointed here in Manila,” he added.
His comments triggered excitement among clergy and churchgoers.
Manila Cathedral released a prayer, to be recited during Masses, in the archdiocese in anticipation of the appointment of its new archbishop.
“Send us a good, holy, learned and wise man to become our next archbishop. Inspire us, the clergy, religious and the laity to work generously with him so that we might grow together in your love,” it read.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
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People have been speculating on who the next archbishop will be ever since Cardinal Tagle left.
“I think it should be Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan or Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan. Both are brave pastors who have openly denounced (the president, Rodrigo) Duterte’s extrajudicial killings. We need a brave archbishop like the late Cardinal Jaime Sin,” a Manila resident, Aldrin Sebastian. said.
Sebastian said being archbishop of Manila is more than being a Church official because the office has a sociopolitical dimension.
“The archbishop has a higher calling than just being a shepherd for the poor and the oppressed because his seat is so powerful that government leaders listen to him,” he said.
Some people believed a quieter archbishop was needed.
“What we need is an archbishop who will bring healing and unity between the government and the people. We need someone who is diplomatic and can mend fences,” another resident, Christine San Gabriel, said.
