Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle wants to bring the Catholic Church closer to people, a vision his fans say comes from a genuine passion for helping the poor and one that could make him Asia’s first pope.
The 55-year-old cardinal from a working-class family close to the Philippine capital is being touted at home and abroad as a genuine chance to succeed Pope Benedict XVI during a historic Vatican vote next month.
Tagle has a reputation across the devoutly Catholic Philippines as a humble man with a lifelong commitment to helping the poor, while senior church figures regard him as a moderate progressive who balances conservative doctrines.
Photo: AFP
Tagle, the archbishop of Manila who was appointed a cardinal in November, has refused to discuss his chances for the papacy since Benedict announced he would resign on Feb. 28 due to poor health.
However, speaking at a public seminar in Manila last weekend, Tagle elaborated on his well-known views that church leaders needed to do a better job at reaching out to the people within their communities, particularly the youth.
“The young want to be connected,” Tagle said at the forum.
“That is the basic of the faith — [to be] connected to God, connected to others, to the church. We need to go back to that fundamental,” he said.
Eloquent and with a soothing voice, Tagle has also made high-profile speeches in recent years calling for a humbler church that is more open to the public’s concerns.
Born in 1957 in the then-rural township of Imus, Tagle’s devout Catholic upbringing exposed him to religious work at an early age.
One of his mentors, Father Romeo Ner, 72, recalled that they first met when Tagle was a young boy and even then he showed remarkable empathy, as well as discipline and intellect.
“He was always No. 1 in school. He was very interested in helping the poor even at a young age, and he was very close to the church,” Ner said.
“I was amazed because he knew how to recite the rosary and all of its mysteries when he was just three,” he said.
Ner said that as a young priest, Tagle was involved in raising money for parishes that served poor areas.
“Giving the poor their true dignity is his passion. He loves them,” said Ner, who as then-vicar-general of Tagle’s hometown was instrumental in making him one of the country’s youngest bishops at the age of 44 in 2001.
“When he was appointed as cardinal last year, I asked him whether he realized he was now the highest churchman in the country,” Ner said.
“He just said ‘yes,’ but appeared not to be very engrossed with the idea. He is very humble that way, and he never craved for any attention,” Ner said.
Respected Vatican analyst Sandro Magister wrote recently that Tagle could become the first developing world pope, in the absence of notable church leaders in Africa and Latin America, where the majority of the world’s Catholics live.
Magister wrote in Italy’s L’Espresso magazine that a key point in Tagle’s favor was the church’s increasing focus on Asia as the future bulwark of the faith.
Tagle is well-positioned because the Philippines is Asia’s only majority-Catholic nation, a legacy of more than three centuries of Spanish rule.
And while Tagle is identified with the progressive wing of the Vatican, Magister said that even the conservative Benedict had appreciated the Filipino’s “balance of vision and doctrinal correctness.”
At a time when many church leaders are seen as aloof, Magister also emphasized Tagle’s reputation for connecting with the Philippines’ millions of poor people.
“Especially striking is the style with which the bishop acts, living simply and mingling among the humblest people, with a great passion for mission and for charity,” Magister wrote.
Bookmakers rank Tagle as among the favorites going into the cardinals’ secret conclave in Rome. One popular Irish site has him at 16-1 odds. Nevertheless, other analysts also point out the momentous nature of electing the first pope from Asia, Africa or Latin America, arguing that another European pope is a safer bet.
In the Philippines, there has been nearly uniform support for Tagle since Benedict’s shock resignation announcement.
“If he becomes a pope, it will be a loss to us, but a gain to the Vatican and the Catholic world,” Ner said.
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS