In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Dominican Province of the Philippines as the 41st Province of the Order of Preachers, Brother Filemon I. dela Cruz, Jr., OP, the Prior Provincial, received the Profession of Most Reverend Jose F. Cardinal Advincula, Jr., DD, the Archbishop of Manila.
During a Rite of Profession on 11 December 2021, at 7 o’clock in the evening at the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary “La Naval de Manila” in Quezon City, Cardinal Advincula has committed himself to live according to the Rule of the Dominican Fraternities proper for secular clergy.
For the members of the Philippine Province, the membership of Cardinal Advincula in the fraternities is a gift to their Jubilee, as well as a blessing to the Order and to the members of the Dominican Family around the globe.
Bishop Jo, as he is fondly called, considers himself a “son of St. Dominic”, for having been formed as a diocesan seminarian in the University of Santo Tomas Central Seminary by Dominican formators and professors, and later on as a young priest while he was undergoing Canon Law Studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome.
With his promise to live his priesthood following the spirit of St. Dominic, the friendship of the Cardinal with the Dominicans that began during the former’s seminary days, has not only been institutionalized, but has also been renewed and deepened. Through this event, Cardinal Advincula becomes the second cardinal who has joined the Dominican Family this year (the first being Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça), indeed, a wonderful year to celebrate not only for the Philippine Province but for the Order as well.
Br. Arden Xerxes Dacuma, OP
