New archbishop of Cebu!

MANILA(CBCPNews.com), Oct. 15, 2010—A known human rights advocate is the new archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Cebu in a papal appointment announced Friday.

Palo Archbishop Jose Palma will replace Ricardo Cardinal Vidal whose resignation was finally accepted by Pope Benedict XVI.

Vidal has submitted to the Holy Father his letter of resignation in 2006 when he turned 75 years old.

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The last two archbishops of Cebu have received the red hat.  Cardinals Julio Rosales and Ricardo Vidal.

Will Archbishop Palma be elevated to the cardinalate?  We will have to see that.

He is only 60 years old.  Pretty young for an archbishop and a soon-to-be cardinal.  He received his  licentiate in Sacred Theology at the University Santo Tomas Manila, and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.  He was appointed Archbishop of Palo, Leyte, replacing the Archbishop Pedro Dean who regularly celebrates the EF Mass at the Lower Chapel of Christ the King Parish Church at Greenmeadows, Quezon City.  Abp. Palma is also the Vice President of the CBCP.

I heard that he is friendly to the Traditional Latin Mass community and has even said an EF Mass!

If you notice...

with that kind of a lead paragraph, you might wonder what kind of qualifications CBCP writers have for a new archbishop.

Cardinal Vidal turned 79 in February but the Holy Father deferred his retirement until the mandatory retirement age of 80.

Actually I am more inclined to see the replacement of Cardinal Rosales of Manila, who turned 78 last August.  He submitted his resignation letter when he turned 75, the required age for bishops to retire.

However, we still see no signs of a replacement soon.

Guess Chupungco and the gang can have more time, eh?