Bishop David says cardinal role will help Pope as ‘bridge-builder’

MANILA, Philippines – Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, whom Pope Francis named a cardinal along with 20 others, said a cardinal’s role is to help the pontiff as “bridge-builder” between local churches and the universal Catholic Church. 

David, who is in Rome for a month-long Vatican summit, explained his perspective when sought by Rappler for comment on Monday, October 7, about being a cardinal in a “synodal” church. 

“Synodal” — derived from the Greek term syn-hodos, which means “walking together” — is one of the bywords under the 11-year-old papacy of Pope Francis. Referring to a more consultative, dialogical way of proceeding, the synodal path has been proposed as a “new way of being church.” 

The synodal way, in fact, is the subject of the historic Vatican assembly called the Synod on Synodality, whose second session takes place from October 2 to 27. David, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, is one of three CBCP delegates at this Vatican summit. 

In his explanation of a cardinal’s role, David referred to the Pope’s function as bishop of the Diocese of Rome, and as Pontifex Maximus or “supreme bridge-builder,” linking the center to the peripheries as a “visible sign of unity” in the Catholic Church.

“I think being cardinal in a synodal church means assisting the Bishop of Rome in his ministry as a Pontifex Maximus (supreme bridge-builder) especially between the local churches and the universal Church,” David told Rappler.

In a video uploaded by CBCP News on Monday, David also said in Filipino: “Being a cardinal is not an honor. It is a responsibility.”

Bridging different faiths

Even before he is formally made a cardinal on December 8, however, David has played aspects of this role as “bridge-builder” during the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican. He has, for example, spoken about the challenges posed by local migration to traditional parishes, as well as the need to build bridges with people of different faiths. 

In an interview uploaded by Vatican News on Monday, David said the ongoing second session of the Synod on Synodality “is our way of helping out in the invitation of Pope Francis to propel the Church in mission — to stop being too self-referential and being concerned only about ‘churchy’ issues.”

He said this is especially important for Catholics from the Global South, like Filipinos. He pointed out that while the Philippines is a predominantly Christian country, for example, in the rest of Asia “Christianity is a tiny, tiny minority.”

David, a 65-year-old Bible scholar and human rights defender from Betis, Guagua, Pampanga, is also the incoming vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, the assembly of Catholic bishops in Asia. 

“We bring our voices also into the synod to make sure that we remain open to intercultural, interreligious dialogue,” said David in this interview that was recorded on Saturday, October 5, a day before the Pope announced he would become a cardinal. 

“I think we’re finding spaces to be able to collaborate, to be able to walk with people of other faiths, other religions, other denominations within Christianity, to be able to work together for social justice for the poorest of the poor, for human rights, for the integrity of Creation. These are concerns that are foremost among the Asian people,” he added.

The vice president of the CBCP, Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, said Filipino bishops “are in great jubilation” that David will be a cardinal. 

“This is a recognition of the contribution of Bishop David to the Philippine Church as CBCP president, his invaluable work for the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), especially during the recent FABC 50 General Conference, as well as his active participation the Synod on the Word of God (2008) and the ongoing Synod on Synodality (2021-2024),” Vergara said in a statement. 

Vergara also cited David’s decision to put up “mission stations” or makeshift churches to serve remote communities in the Diocese of Kalookan, which David has led since 2016.

“The Pope’s choice of Bishop Ambo is consistent with his selection of cardinals who reach out to the peripheries, given Bishop Ambo’s establishment of mission stations in the Diocese of Kalookan to better serve the poorest of the poor,” Vergara said.

Before the Francis papacy, Filipino cardinals only came from either Manila or Cebu. 

In more than a decade as leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope has named three Filipino cardinals so far. All three of them came from dioceses whose bishops were not traditionally named cardinals: Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato, who was the first cardinal from Mindanao; Jose Advincula of Capiz, who later became archbishop of Manila; and David of Kalookan. – Rappler.com