New Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan will celebrate his first Mass in the Philippines on Saturday after taking part in the historic consistory at the Vatican.
Dozens of bishops and priests are expected to attend the 9 a.m. liturgical celebration, which will be presided over by David at the San Roque Cathedral in Caloocan City.
“Let us come together as one community and offer our prayers for our bishop who has been elevated to the rank of cardinal,” the diocese said on Wednesday.
David, who is also the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, was among the 21 new cardinals from across the globe installed by Pope Francis during the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica on December 7.
He is set to arrive Manila on Friday evening.
“I am looking forward to [coming] home. Thank you and see you all soon,” he said.
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Four new cardinals from Asia were named in the latest consistory, bringing the total number of Asian cardinals to 37 out of 253 worldwide.
The cardinals are the closest advisers and collaborators of the Pope in the governance of the worldwide Catholic Church.
Among the roles of the cardinals is to elect a new pope when a pope dies or abdicates the papacy.
With the current composition of the College of Cardinals, 140 are cardinal electors, including David, Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.
