What to know about Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the one poised to be the first Asian pope.
CARDINAL LUIS ANTONIO TAGLE – Here are some details about the 67-year-old cardinal, a strong contender to be the next pope.
One of the emerging cardinals considered a top contender in the Vatican conclave after Pope Francis’ death is Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. As much as we all know, Pope Francis died at the age of 88, and with his death, the process of picking a new church leader was set in motion.
Cardinal Tagle is among the strong contenders as a potential successor to the pope. There are also cardinals such as Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Cardinal Peter Erdo, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Cardinal Peter Turkson, Cardinal Sergio da Rocha, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonca, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.
Who is Cardinal Tagle?
He is Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, whose paternal grandfather was from an upper-class Filipino family, and his maternal grandmother was from a well-off Chinese family that immigrated to the Philippines. His nickname is “Chito,” and initially, he was working on becoming a physician.
But fate had a different plan. He was greatly influenced by the Jesuits. When he left the Jesuits, he was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Manila in 1982 and became the spiritual director and professor at the local seminary. He was a rector from 1983 to 1985.
In 1987, he earned a license in theology and earned his doctorate in 1991. He focused on the episcopal collegiality in the praxis and doctrine of Paul VI, under the theologian Joseph Komonchak.
For 15 years, he was on the editorial board of the History of Vatican II historical research project. In the Philippines, he was Episcopal Vicar for Religious from 1993 to 1995 and pastor of the cathedral parish in Imus from 1998 to 2001. In 2001, he was appointed bishop of the Imus Diocese by John Paul II. In 2011, Benedict nominated him archbishop of Manila.
He also served as a member of the International Theological Commission from 1997 until 2003 and participated in the Federation of Asian Episcopal Conferences. In 2012, Benedict XVI made him a cardinal.
In 2015, he was president of Caritatis Internationalis. In 2019, he was called by Pope Francis to stay in Rome to be the prefect of the prestigious Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The congregation was restructured, and he became pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization.
In 2020, he was declared cardinal-bishop, potentially a sign that he was the favored successor at that time.
What can you say about this? Let us know in the comments!