During his weekly “Angelus” encounter with the faithful, on Sunday, January 12, 2014, Pope Francis announced the names of 19 new Cardinals for the Church. Among them is an Oblate of Mary Immaculate, Archbishop Orlando Beltran QUEVEDO, of Cotabato, Philippines. He will be inducted into the College of Cardinals during a consistory on February 22.

Born in 1939 in Laoag, Ilcos Norte, Philippines, he professed his first vows as an Oblate in Mission, Texas (USA) in 1957. He returned to the Philippines to study philosophy and then returned to the United States to study theology at Oblate College in Washington, D.C. where he was ordained a priest in 1964.

Much of his ministry, prior to being named a bishop, was in education and formation. Among other things, he was President of Notre Dame University in Cotabato (1970-76) and Superior of the Oblate Scholasticate in Quezon City (1979-80). In 1980, he was appointed Bishop of the Prelature of Kidapawan (made a diocese in 1983). In 1986, he became the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia where he served until 1998 when he was transferred to the Archdiocese of Cotabato.

In 1999-2003 he served as president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines and was General Secretary of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. He was also a member of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1991-2001) and the General Council for the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops (1994-2000) in Rome.