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The Philippines has produced ten cardinals .
The population of Catholics in the Philippines constitutes the country's largest religious denomination, as well as one of the largest Catholic populations among countries of the world. The Catholic faith was introduced to the Philippines by Spanish colonists in the sixteenth century. Some 400 years later, in 1960, Rufino J. Santos, the Archbishop of Manila, became the first Filipino cardinal. Since then, a total of ten Filipinos have been raised to the rank of cardinal.
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On May 1, 2020, Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect for the Section of First Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization, was promoted to the rank of cardinal-bishop. He is the first Filipino to hold the highest rank of a cardinal in the Catholic Church. [1]
On October 6, 2024, Pope Francis named Pablo Virgilio David, Bishop of Kalookan, as the tenth Filipino Cardinal. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in a consistory on December 8, 2024. He is the first Filipino cardinal from an ordinary episcopal see in the Philippines.
There are currently three Filipino cardinal-electors: Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; Jose Advincula, current Archbishop of Manila; and Pablo Virgilio David, current Bishop of Kalookan. They participated in the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, marking the first time in history that three Filipino cardinal-electors participated in a papal conclave. [2]
