I was enjoying a quiet Sunday morning at the Collegio Filippino after a heavy Synod schedule. I slept a bit longer because my Sunday Mass was not going to be until 4 pm at the Chaplaincy for Filipino Migrants in Rome.
For the first time in many days, I had 8 full hours of sleep. After my late “Coffee with Jesus,” my phone started ringing. I ignored it because I was also preparing my Sunday homily for my 4 pm Mass at the Sta Pudenziana Church.
Besides, the call registered as an international call so I restrained myself from answering it because I’m using a Philippine SIM card, and the call would have had to pass through the Philippines and would have been very expensive.
Now, I realize it must have been someone from the Vatican trying to reach me to inform me about the announcement that was going to be made by the Pope at 12 noon after the Angelus.
Later at noon, the procurator at the Collegio sent me a congratulatory message on WhatsApp. I texted back and said, “For what?” He texted again and said, “Na-announce po na Cardinal kayo.” I texted back and said: “Joke?!”
That’s when he called me up to say it could not be a joke because the Pope himself had announced it after the 12noon Angelus. And he sent me the video cut-out from the newsfeed of Vatican news. Then I began to receive a deluge of messages.
It felt like being caught in a whirlwind. I put down the phone and did a five-minute breathing exercise, which instantly calmed me down.
Now it felt like Elijah standing by the mouth of a cave and feeling a soft breeze that penetrated my soul and prepared me for this new chapter of my life and ministry as a bishop, as a servant of God’s people.
I said, “Ok, Lord. My life is in your hands.”
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan is President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and the incoming Vice-President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
On October 6, Pope Francis announced a Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals, scheduled for December 8, 2024. Bishop David was among the 21 bishops selected to become Cardinals.
Bishop David posted this reflection on his Facebook account a few hours after the announcement was made.