Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, 66, is one of three Filipino cardinals who will enter the Sistine Chapel on May 7 to vote for the successor to Pope Francis and the 266th successor to St. Peter. The other two are Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, and Jose Advincula, O.P., 73.
Cardinal David is currently serving his second term as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, the country with the third-largest number of Catholics in the world, after Brazil and Mexico. He is also vice president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. He was elected a member of the post-synodal council at the second session of the Synod on Synodality at the Vatican in October 2024.
Cardinal Ambo, as he is popularly known in the Philippines—“Ambo” being a term of endearment for Pablo—is a biblical scholar who studied in Louvain, Belgium and Jerusalem. He is also a polyglot who, in addition to Filipino and English, knows eight other ancient and modern languages and is “brushing up” on his Italian.
This courageous cardinal received several death threats for helping the victims of the war on drugs and their families, waged by Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, as he told me in an interview for America after receiving the red hat from Pope Francis on Dec. 7, 2024. (Mr. Duterte was arrested in March 2025 on the orders of the International Criminal Court and is now in prison in the Hague, Netherlands.)
Cardinal David gave me this brief interview by email on Sunday evening, April 27, after praying with the cardinals at the Basilica of St. Mary Major and before joining the pre-conclave meetings of the cardinals the next day.
What do you see as the legacy of Pope Francis—the three or four most important things?
The retrieval of the spirit of Vatican II through his consistent call for a more synodal church in communion, participation and mission.
The reform of the Roman Curia through “Praedicate Evangelium,” in pursuit of greater decentralization of church governance and greater collegiality among bishops, such as through the episcopal conferences and continental federations of episcopal conferences
And a more serious invitation to a higher level of church advocacy for integral ecology and care for our common home through “Laudato Si’” and “Laudate Deum.”
What is the greatest need of the church today?
The church needs to understand her identity as a community of missionary disciples, anointed by the same Holy Spirit to become members of the body of Christ, participants in his life and mission.
What dangers do you see in the church’s current orientation?
We cannot expect our faithful to grow in their understanding of their shared identity as participants in the life and mission of the church, the body of Christ, if we fail to address clericalism, which is reinforced by a theology of the ordained ministry that is not properly grounded on the common priesthood of the faithful.
What is your vision of evangelization in today’s world?
It should be a task of the whole church, not just of the ordained or the religious. One that truly, effectively and profoundly impacts society, the world and all creation. For Asians, it takes a four-fold ecclesial conversion that involves a synodal encounter with neighbor religions, neighbor cultures, with the poor and with creation.
What qualities should the next pope possess?
He should have had extensive experience of service as the bishop of a local church. Like Francis, he should sustain the spirit of Vatican II, promote a missionary synodal church that listens, that is welcoming and participatory, that promotes co-responsibility in mission.
How should the church relate to the world?
In a time when the globalized economic and political order is crumbling—especially exposed during the Trump era and its aftermath—the church may well be one of the last stubborn institutions that still holds a truly global character.
This unique position places a serious responsibility on the church: not to retreat into self-preservation or nostalgic idealism, but to engage the world by offering a credible witness to a renewed model of humanity.
The church should relate to the world not with fear or condescension, but with a humble yet bold presence that takes the world’s realities seriously: its wounds, its aspirations, its complexity.
We are called to propose—through word and witness—a vision of human fraternity, dignity, justice and ecological responsibility, showing that faith can foster a future worthy of the whole human family.
