“Ha?!” – every Filipino ever, whatever the context is.
At some point in our daily conversations, we’ve always said this one syllable word to almost everyone we know. From casual, friendly chats down to even the most serious of discussions, we’ve said “Ha?!” to everyone we’ve talked to.
Apparently, even the holiest of people says it. Who would’ve thought, no?
On Sunday, October 6, 2024, Pope Francis named Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David as a new cardinal during his Angelus Prayer at the Vatican. He was named along with 20 other clergymen from around the world.
In a post he shared on October 7, 2024 at 1:40 A.M., which was still around October 6, 2024, and, 7:40 P.M. in Rome, Bishop Pablo Virgilio David recounted how he found out about his assignment. It wasn’t through a formal letter from the Pope, nor was it through a special messenger that came from the Vatican like how we saw it in historical TV series.
But through a WhatsApp message.
The President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said that he was enjoying a laid-back and quiet Sunday morning in Rome when he suddenly got a surge of notifications on his phone.
He didn’t know about the announcement at that time, so this notification barrage on his phone surprised him. He was resting and preparing for his Sunday Mass homily at the Chaplaincy for Filipino Migrants in Rome, and at first, he ignored all of these phone calls because answering an international call on a Philippine SIM was expensive (Roaming, am I right?).
Then, he realized that the call was from the Vatican and was probably about the announcement Pope Francis made earlier that day.
At noon, he said the procurator at the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, the home of Filipino priests in Rome, sent him a message on WhatsApp saying “Congratulations”. He didn’t understand this and texted back, “For what?”
The procurator said that he [Bishop David] was announced as Cardinal, to which he replied, “Joke?” The procurator then sent him a video cut of Pope Francis announcing the newly named Cardinals from the Vatican news.
Bishop David replied, “Ha?!” after seeing the video, and after that, he received more messages and notifications.
He described the feeling after getting all of those messages “like being caught in a whirlwind.” Then, he said that he put the phone down and did a five-minute breathing exercise to calm himself down. To this, he likened this feeling to the story of Elijah standing in front of a cave and feeling a soft breeze “that penetrated his soul”.
He ended his post by saying, “…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”.
As relatable as his reaction sounded to something unbelievable, it’s heartwarming to see how this holy man—the 10th Filipino Cardinal, to maintain his humility in a time when one should be proud of their achievements.
Pablo Virgilio David was born in Betis, Guagua, Pampanga, and is most known for defending human rights in the Philippines and was a staunch critic of Duterte’s war on drugs.
He is an internationally trained Bible scholar, having earned his licentiate and doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
Once his appointment as Cardinal is formalized in the consistory on December 8, 2024, a few days before the opening of the Jubilee Year of 2025, David will join Cardinals Tagle and Advincula as close advisors to the Pope and will get to elect the Pope’s successor.
Cardinals who are below the age of 80 are those allowed to participate in a Papal Conclave.
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