Pablo Virgilio David

Last updated

His Eminence

Pablo Virgilio David
Cardinal
Bishop of Kalookan
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David.jpg
David in 2024
Church Catholic Church
Province Manila
See Kalookan
AppointedOctober 14, 2015
InstalledJanuary 2, 2016
PredecessorDeogracias Iñiguez Jr.
Other post(s)
Previous post(s)Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando
(2006 –2015)
Titular Bishop of Guardialfiera
(2006 –2015)
Orders
OrdinationMarch 12, 1983
by  Oscar Cruz
ConsecrationJuly 10, 2006
by  Gaudencio Rosales
Created cardinalDecember 7, 2024
by Pope Francis
Rank Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born
Pablo Virgilio Siongco David

(1959-03-02) March 2, 1959 (age 65)
Guagua, Pampanga, Philippines
Denomination Roman Catholic
Alma mater Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Ateneo de Manila University
Motto Kenosis
(Emptying oneself to receive God's will) [1]
Coat of arms Coat of arms of Pablo Virgilio David (cardinal).svg
Ordination history
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained by Oscar Cruz
DateMarch 12, 1983
Place Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator Gaudencio Rosales
Co-consecrators Paciano Aniceto
Angel Lagdameo
DateJuly 10, 2006
Place Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, San Fernando, Pampanga, Philippines
Cardinalate
Elevated by Pope Francis
DateDecember 7, 2024
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Pablo Virgilio David as principal consecrator
Euginius Longakit CañeteDecember 28, 2024
Styles of
Pablo Virgilio David
Coat of arms of Pablo Virgilio David (cardinal).svg
Reference style His Eminence
Spoken style Your Eminence
Informal style Cardinal
See Kalookan

Pablo Virgilio "Ambo" Siongco David (born March 2, 1959) is a Filipino Catholic prelate who has served as Bishop of Kalookan since 2016. He was auxiliary bishop of San Fernando from 2006 to 2015. He has been president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines since 2021. Pope Francis made him a cardinal on December 7, 2024.

Contents

He prefers to be known by his nickname "Ambo" or "Apu Ambo", which means "grandfather Ambo". [1]

Biography

Early life and education

Pablo Virgilio David was born in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga, on March 2, 1959. He is the 10th of the 13 children of Pedro David and Bienvenida Siongco. [2] One of his siblings is the sociologist and public intellectual Randy David. [3] He determined his vocation early and asked to attend the minor seminary at the age of ten. [4] He attended Mother of Good Counsel Minor Seminary in San Fernando, Pampanga for his secondary education. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Pre-Divinity from Ateneo de Manila University, his master’s degree in Theology from the Loyola School of Theology. [5] During his student years he participated in demonstrations against the Marcos dictatorship. [4] [1]

Priest

David was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Fernando by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz on March 12, 1983. He worked first for a year as an assistant pastor, [5] where he continued his anti-government political activities. [4] He then became director of the Mother of God Counsel Seminary until 1986. From 1986 to 1991, he studied abroad, earning a licentiate and then a doctorate in sacred theology from the Catholic University of Louvain, a school he chose because of its "progressive" reputation, [4] and he studied at the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, [5] where he learned Aramaic to enable him to continue his scholarly work on the Book of Daniel. [4]

Returning to the Philippines, David held various leadership and teaching roles at San Fernando's archdiocesan seminary. In 2002, he became director of the seminary's Theology Department, while continuing to teach Sacred Scripture. Also in 2002, he was elected vice-president of the Association of Catholic Biblical Scholars of the Philippines and vice-president of the Archdiocesan Media Apostolate Networks. [5]

Bishop and cardinal

On May 27, 2006, he was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be auxiliary bishop of San Fernando and titular bishop of the Guardialfiera. [5] [6] He was consecrated as a bishop by Manila Archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Borbon Rosales, with San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo as co-consecrators. [7]

In 2008, David was one of five bishops elected by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to attend the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in October. [8] He also won back control of shrine at Apung Mamacalulu from the private interests that owned the site of the chapel and commercialized it. He made it a site for popular pilgrimages and initiated the celebration of Mass there, which had previously been prohibited. [4] [9]

Pope Francis named David Bishop of Kalookan on October 14, 2015, [10] [11] and David was installed in the Cathedral of San Roque there on January 2, 2016. [a] He also took on the responsibilities of pastor of the cathedral parish. [12]

He has served as a member of the CBCP's Episcopal Commission on Biblical Apostolate, and he was elected to a four-year term as that organization's vice president in December 2017. [8]

David has been a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. [8] [13] On July 19, 2019, the PNP–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges against David, fellow bishops Honesto Ongtioco and Socrates Villegas, and members of the opposition for "sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice". [14] [15] The charges were dropped in 2020. [16]

In 2019, the University of manila awarded him its Buka Palad prize for his service to the poor and his advocacy for fight social justice. [4]

David was elected president of CBCP by its 130 members on July 8, 2021, succeeding former president Archbishop Romulo Valles on December 1, 2021. [11] [17] [18]

In 2023, David was elected as the Asian representative on the 7-member Commission on Information of that year's Synod of Bishops. [19] In 2024, David was elected as the vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences at the central committee meeting in Bangkok, succeeding Archbishop Malcolm Ranjith. [20] [21]

Coat of arms with the personal arms of the cardinal Coat of arms of Pablo Virgilio David (personal arms).svg
Coat of arms with the personal arms of the cardinal

On October 6, 2024, Pope Francis announced he planned to make David a cardinal and elevated him in the December 7 consistory. [22] David was named cardinal-priest of Trasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo. [23] He is the tenth Filipino to join the College of Cardinals, [24] the third Filipino made a cardinal by Pope Francis, the first Filipino made a cardinal while not yet an archbishop, and the first cardinal from the Diocese of Kalookan. [1] He is in the rarely seen position of a cardinal who is suffragan to another cardinal, the Archbishop of Manila Jose Advincula. [1] Just as he had refused to use the title "Excellency" which is normally accorded a bishop, [4] as cardinal he said that he was "scandalized" by the use of the title "Eminence" for cardinals and hoped it would be abolished. [1] He has said he expects no new assignment, rather to remain as bishop of Kalookan.

On October 23, 2024, the Synod of Bishops elected David a member of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod. [25]

During a Simbang Gabi homily on December 24, 2024, David criticized Israel's war in Gaza, saying that the biblical Israel is different from the State of Israel and that "if the Holy Family were to look for an inn today, they would not stay in Bethlehem but in the Gaza Strip and find a collapsed house in which to give birth to the Son of God". [26]

On January 12, 2025, Pope Francis named him a member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. [27]

Writings

David has authored several works of popular theology. [4]

With his co-editor Nina L.B. Tomen he has created three volumes focused on Angeles City, one on the devotion centered on the statue depicting the burial of Jesus Christ known as Apung Mamacalulu, Apung Mamacalulu: The Santo Entierro of Angeles City; another on popular religion in the old town of Betis there; and one on Holy Rosary Parish Church, Pisamban Maragul: The Living Church of Angeles City, designed to be presented to Pope Francis on his visit to the Philippines in January 2015. David said: "The Pope knows well that many old heritage churches in Europe have practically become dead churches or sheer museums. The book is not just about an old building; it is about a living Church." Its 350 pages included archival documents, memoirs of parisioners, and rare photographs. It concerned the church structure and its furnishings, but also documented nonmaterial expressions of faith that deserve preservation: popular devotions, rites, rituals, traditions, sacred music and other nonmaterial forms of faith. [28] [29]

Also with Tomen, The Gospel of Mercy According to Juan/a (Makati City, Philippines: St. Pauls Philippines, 2016). The Juan/Juana of the title refers to any ordinary person, male or female. A collection of essays by each of the authors, with a co-authored preface.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ David became the second bishop of Kalookan. The diocese was erected in 2003.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Salvosa II, Felipe F. (December 9, 2024). "The Rise of 'Cardinal Ambo'". CBCP News. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  2. ↑ Patag, Kristine Joy (April 4, 2019). "Bishop David defends mom after Duterte calls him 'son of a whore'". The Philippine Star. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  3. ↑ David, Randy (March 3, 2019). "Ambo @60". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Meet Bishop 'Ambo' David, Church's new leader in Philippines". Aleteia. December 10, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rinunce e nomine, 27.05.2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. May 27, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  6. ↑ "Bishop of Kalookan Diocese Pablo Virgilio Siongco David". UCA News. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Bishop Pablo Virgilio Siongco David". Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  8. 1 2 3 Gregorio, Xave (July 8, 2021). "'Drug war' critic Bishop David elected CBCP president". The Philippine Star . Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  9. ↑ Ambo David (2016). "Merciful like 'Apu'". The Gospel of Mercy According to Juan/a. StPauls. pp. 29ff. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Rinunce e nomine, 14.10.2015" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. October 14, 2015. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  11. 1 2 Depasupil, William (July 8, 2021). "Staunch Duterte critic named CBCP president". The Manila Times. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  12. ↑ "History". Diocese of Kalookan. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Bishop critical of Duterte drug war is new CBCP president". ABS-CBN News. July 8, 2021. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Robredo, ilang taga-oposisyon kinasuhan ng PNP-CIDG ukol sa 'Bikoy' videos". ABS-CBN News (in Tagalog). July 19, 2019.
  15. ↑ "Sedition raps: Solons, bishop hit 'stupid' PNP". Philippine Daily Inquirer . Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Prosecutors drop sedition charges against Philippine bishops". Union of Catholic Asian News . Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Bishop David officially assumes post as CBCP head". Interaksyon. December 1, 2021. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  18. ↑ Bajo, Anna Felicia (July 8, 2021). "Bishop David, drug war critic, is new CBCP president". GMA News Online. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
  19. ↑ Esmaquel, Paterno (January 16, 2024). "CBCP head Bishop David elected to crucial body at Vatican summit". Rappler .
  20. ↑ Laqui, Ian (February 23, 2024). "CBCP President elected VP of Federation of Bishops in Asia". The Philippine Star . Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  21. ↑ Carvalho, Nirmala (February 24, 2024). "Asia elects new leaders for continental Bishops' Conference". Crux . Retrieved February 26, 2024.
  22. ↑ Tenedero, Erik (December 7, 2024). "Philippines' Bishop Ambo now a cardinal". ABS-CBN. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
  23. ↑ "Concistoro Ordinario Pubblico: Assegnazione dei Titoli e delle Diaconie ai nuovi Cardinali, 07.12.2024" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. December 7, 2024. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  24. ↑ Tenedero, Erik (October 6, 2024). "Pope Francis picks PH's Bishop Pablo David as new cardinal". ABS-CBN . Retrieved October 6, 2024.
  25. ↑ "Synod elects new members to Ordinary Council". Vatican News . October 24, 2024. Retrieved October 24, 2024.
  26. ↑ "Cardinal David hits Israel, says Jesus would have been born in Gaza". Rappler. December 24, 2024. Retrieved December 24, 2024.
  27. ↑ "Resignations and Appointments". Holy See Press Office. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  28. ↑ Orejas, Tonette (December 30, 2014). "Not just a building, but a 'living Church'". inquirer.net. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
  29. ↑ Pilapil, John Kevin D. (December 27, 2014). "Book on 'Pisamban Maragul' launched". SunStar. Retrieved January 12, 2025.
Catholic Church titles
New title Auxiliary Bishop of San Fernando
2006-2015		No Successor
Preceded by
Deogracias Iñiguez Jr.
 Bishop of Kalookan
January 2, 2016 – present		Incumbent
Preceded by Cardinal Priest of Trasfigurazione di Nostro Signore Gesù Cristo
December 7, 2024 – present
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