Quevedo: Mindanao's first cardinal

BY PATERNO ESMAQUEL II
POSTED ON 01/13/2014 4:01 AM | UPDATED 01/13/2014 3:56 PM
MINDANAO'S 1ST CARDINAL. Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, then secretary-general of the
Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, gestures as he speaks during a press briefing at the Pope Pius
XII Catholic Center in Manila on Aug 15, 2009. File photo by Jay Directo/AFP
MANILA, Philippines He says the Moro point-of-view altered his Christian perspective. He believes
the root cause of insurgency in the South is injustice. And he demands respect for Muslims.
Orlando Quevedo, archbishop of Cotabato, brings these convictions with him on February 22. On that
day, Quevedo formally joins an elite group of men who will have the ear of Pope Francis and possibly
elect the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.
Quevedo, 74, becomes the first cardinal of Mindanao, a land that has endured one of the world's
longest running Muslim insurgencies.
The eighth cardinal from the Philippines, he also becomes proof that the Pope wants to reach out to the
world's "outskirts" one of the pontiff's key messages.
After all, in Asia's largest predominantly Catholic country, Quevedo's territory is the least populated by
Catholics among archdioceses.
The Archdiocese of Cotabato covers Cotabato City, parts of Cotabato province, and the provinces of
Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao. Within this area, the Church estimates only 639,183 Catholics in a
population of 1,240,173. That's around 51.54% of the population barely a majority.
Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi on Sunday, January 12, said Quevedo is one of two cardinals
chosen from places not traditionally considered cardinalatial sees. In other words he comes from a
place unlike Manila or Cebu, whose archbishops traditionally become princes of the Catholic Church.
Since 1960 when the late John XXIII created the first Filipino cardinal, Manila Archbishop Rufino Santos
popes have chosen Filipino cardinals only from Manila (Jaime Sin, Gaudencio Rosales, Luis Antonio
Tagle) and Cebu (Julio Rosales and Ricardo Vidal). The exception was Jose Cardinal Sanchez, who was
working in the Vatican when the late John Paul II named him cardinal.
In February, Quevedo brings to 4 the number of living Filipino cardinals, along with Vidal, 82; Gaudencio
Rosales, 81; and Tagle, 56.
Of the 4, only Tagle and Quevedo can elect the next pope because the Church requires electors less than
80 years old. Quevedo won't be able to vote when he turns 80 in March 2019.
'Papal tribute'
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called Quevedo a blessing for the Church.
As a member of the College of Cardinals he will be able to assist the Pope in reaching out to the
marginalized in Mindanao, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said
Sunday.
A cardinal from Mindanao is a papal tribute to the strength of the Catholic faith in that region of our
country. It is a proof that the Catholic faith in Mindanao is now bearing rich fruits; Cardinal Quevedo is
its living testimony, Villegas added.
Promising to pray for Quevedo, Tagle said he is "extremely happy."
"I thank Pope Francis for associating Archbishop Quevedo and the church in Mindanao to his Petrine
ministry and solicitude for all the churches," said Tagle, who became cardinal in November 2012.
(READ:'Terrified' Tagle takes global center stage)
Peace advocate Fr Eliseo Mercado said the archbishop will make a good cardinal.
Mercado comes from Quevedo's congregation, the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He also used to chair
the government panel in peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Archbishop Quevedo is a key figure in the understanding of the Bangsamoro issue, Mercado told
Rappler in an e-mail interview.
The priest explained: His views may not be popular, but it is not a question of popularity but a question
of justice and morality. By elevating the man to the College of Cardinals, he will be a great help and
counsel to the Pope in understanding Islam on the ground and inter-religious dialogue.
'Root cause: Injustice'
Quevedo's widely quoted paper, Injustice: The Root of Conflict in Mindanao, outlines his views on the
Bangsamoro issue. The Catholic Peacebuilding Network carries this paper on its website courtesy of
MindaNews.
In this document, Quevedo comes from the context of a boy who grew up in Marbel, Koronadal,
Cotabato in the late 40s and early 50s, whose parents migrated from the crowded North to the vast
and spacious South.
He says he eventually worked as a priest-educator in Cotabato City for 12 years, as a parish priest in
Jolo for almost two years, as bishop of Kidapawan for 6 years, and as archbishop of Cotabato for the
past 15 years.
Through the years I have gained some understanding of the Moro viewpoint that has significantly
influenced, even altered, my Christian viewpoint. The change came not only from reading books
authored by either Christian or Muslim scholars but most importantly from teaching, advising,
observing, conversing, and being with Muslim students and professionals for many years, even as I
accompanied my fellow Christians in their own journey through ongoing history, Quevedo says.
From such a perspective, he adds, then may I state my central conviction that the root cause of
insurgency in the South is injustice.
He enumerates 3 basic injustices:
Injustice to the Moro identity;
Injustice to the Moro political sovereignty; and
Injustice to Moro integral development
Justice to the Moro identity and sovereignty must be seriously respected. But this task is far from
simple, he says. Muslim and Christian religious leaders have a major role in this. Both the Koran and
the Bible teach respect, understanding, reconciliation, and love.
'Pajero bishops'
Born on March 11, 1939 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte, Quevedo is a former president of the CBCP.
While he is said to have "defended and promoted justice and peace" even in the martial law years,
Quevedo also faced controversy. Critics tagged him in 2011, along with 6 other bishops, as having
received expensive vehicles from the government for personal use.
Quevedo denied this accusation. I wish to reiterate my declaration that I have never requested or
received from PCSO any vehicle for my personal use, whether a Pajero or SUV or any other vehicle,
hesaid in a statement posted on MindaNews.
He admitted, however, having requested a vehicle from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office "to be
used by our social action program."
Responding to Rappler, Quevedo justified the procurement as a demand for emergency to help provide
basic necessities for Muslims and Christians displaced by the armed fighting." (READ: Calling on the 'SUV'
bishops)
In his statement on the cardinal-elect on Sunday, Villegas looked beyond this scandal, and stressed that
Quevedo is known in the CBCP for his mental clarity and intellectual brilliance.
He is an archbishop who is truly passionate for the formation of basic ecclesial communities. He has
been a pastor up north in Ilocos Sur and down south in Cotabato. He is an intellectual giant with a very
simple lifestyle and very warm fraternal manners, the current CBCP president said.
'Dialogue with the poor'
The US-based National Catholic Reporter (NCR), for its part, called Quevedo the architect of Asian
pastoral churches.
NCR's Thomas Fox wrote that more than any other living prelate in Asia, Quevedo has advocated and
designed the structures of pastoral Asian churches.
Quevedo, former secretary general of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, has played an
influential role in developing volumes of Asian pastoral statements in recent decades. He is widely
respected among his Asian peers, the writer added.
Fox quoted Quevedo's recent statement about the role of the Church in Asia.
The cardinal-elect said: The Church in Asia strives to be inculturated in Asia, rooted in Asia, incarnate in
Asia. At the same time the Church considers the task of inter-religious dialogue as a pastoral imperative
in the common journey of Asian peoples to the Reign of God.
Finally, Quevedo added, in a continent of massive poverty the Church has to be in dialogue with the
poor, so that as a Church of the Poor it can be a humble servant of the peoples of Asia and credibly and
effectively proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, the Lord and Savior." Rappler.com