Pope Francis appoints Cebu archbishop to Vatican post

Pope Francis has appointed Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma as a member of the newly-established Dicastery for Culture and Education, a GMA News report said.

The Archdiocese of Cebu made the announcement over the weekend as it congratulated the prelate for his role in the Roman Curia, GMA News reported.

“Congratulations! The Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed our dear Cebu Archbishop Jose S. Palma as a member of the Dicastery for Culture and Education—an administrative unit of the Roman Curia,” it said on a Facebook post.

According to the archdiocese, the dicastery was formed through the merger of the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education and the former Pontifical Council for Culture wherein the Archbishop was previously a member.

Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça currently heads the dicastery.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) confirmed Palma’s designation in a separate statement, GMA News further reported.

Based on its constitution, the CBCP said the administrative unit is divided into two sections and “works for the development of human values in people within the horizon of Christian anthropology, contributing to the full realization of Christian discipleship”.

It also “coordinates the activities of a number of pontifical academies, such as the Pontifical Academy of Archeology and the Pontifical Academy of Theology.”