Pope Francis has given Cardinal Jose Advincula of Capiz his first Vatican assignment since becoming a cardinal last month.
The pope on Wednesday appointed the Filipino cardinal among the newest members of the Congregation for the Clergy.
Cardinal Advincula was joined by Cardinal Cornelius Sin of Brunei as part of the dicastery responsible for the formation, ministry and life of priests and deacons.
As members, they will closely work with Italian Cardinal Benjamin Stella, who has been heading the office since 2013.
Cardinals Advincula and Sim are among the 13 new cardinals created by the pope in late November. Only nine of them are under 80 who were given new tasks in addition to their primary ministries.
Before becoming a bishop in 2001, Cardinal Advincula spent most of his priestly life as a seminary formator.
After his ordination as priest for the Capiz archdiocese in 1976, he served as spiritual director of the St. Pius X Seminary, where he was also professor and dean of education.
In 1984, he was sent to study at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum, where he obtained a licentiate in Canon Law.
Returning to the country in 1990, he was assigned as professor, spiritual director, and dean of studies of the Immaculate Conception School of Theology, the regional seminary of northern Luzon, in Vigan, Ilocos Sur.
After serving the Vigan archdiocese for three years, he became professor and spiritual director of St. Joseph Regional Seminary of the Archdiocese of Jaro.
In 1995, he went back to his home archdiocese and was appointed rector of St. Pius X Seminary.
Cardinal Advincula also became the first rector of Sancta Mater et Regina Seminarium when it formally opened in 1999.
In 2000, he received his first and only pastoral assignment as parish priest of Sto. Tomas de Villanueva in Capiz’s Dao town.
A year later, he was appointed bishop of San Carlos in Negros Oriental. He was transferred to Capiz as archbishop in 2011.
