Cardinal Quevedo Honored with Doctor of Humanities Degree

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 31 July 2026) – Mindanao’s Cardinal Orlando Quevedo, OMI, was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities, honoris causa, by the San Beda University during the graduation rites on Thursday, where he was also the commencement speaker. The honorary degree conferment came two weeks after Quevedo was honored with the Harmony in Diversity Award in Jakarta, Indonesia on July 15 as the inaugural awardee chosen from “more than 70 nominations from across Southeast Asia “for his lifelong commitment to peacebuilding, interfaith understanding and reconciliation, particularly through his sustained engagement in Mindanao over several decades.” Quevedo was conferred the honorary degree by San Beda in recognition of his “exemplary service” as bishop-prelate from 1980 to 1982, as first bishop of the Diocese of Kidapawan from 1982 to 1986, as Metropolitan Archbishop of Nueva Segovia in Vigan, Ilocos Sur from 1986 to 1998, and as the first Filipino Metropolitan Archbishop of Cotabato from 1998 to 2018, “shepherding a region deeply challenged by armed conflict, poverty, and cultural tensions with a profound pastoral style of simplicity and approachability.” San Beda also acknowledged his “encompassing love and concern for Catholic education and formation” as an early formator in seminary life and pastoral ministry, and as the first Filipino president of Notre Dame University in Cotabato City, “strengthening its holistic mission to integrate faith, academic excellence, and social service” for which he was recognized as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines in 1973. He was also cited for his “remarkable leadership in sharing knowledge, expertise, and advocacy for peace” as President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) from 1999 to 2003, as Secretary-General of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) from 2005 to 2011, and as co-founder of the Bishops-Ulama Conference in 1996. It said Quevedo has been revered widely as ‘Mindanao’s Man of Peace’ for championing interreligious dialogue among Christians, Muslims, and Indigenous Peoples and “continuing to serve as a moral voice on the Council of Leaders” of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). San Beda also noted that Quevedo is the Archbishop in Mindanao who was elevated as its first Cardinal, “embracing his red hat not as a privilege but as a responsible ‘crown thorns’ to serve the poor and marginalized.” It also cited Quevedo’s “faithful embodiment of the Benedictine ideals of Pax (Peace) and Ora et Labora (Pray and work) and the Bedan values of Fides, Scientia et Virtus” or Faith, knowledge and virtue. (MindaNews)