Among the names circulating as possible candidates, one that stands out is that of 67-year-old Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a prominent prelate in the Roman Curia, but with a bloc of Asian cardinals that has grown from two in 1963 to 23 today, 20 of whom have been appointed by Pope Francis, even for very small dioceses of 1,500 souls (Mongolia).
Appointed Archbishop of Manila by Benedict XVI, Tagle was then called to Rome in 2019 by Pope Francis as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, replacing Cardinal Fernando Filoni, who was “promoted” to Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre when he had three years left to complete his term as Prefect. Filoni was probably paying for his reservations about the agreement between the Vatican and China on the appointment of bishops, while Tagle had always been enthusiastic.
With the reform of the Curia in 2022 and the creation of the Dicastery for Evangelisation under the leadership of Pope Francis, Tagle became pro-prefect, retaining oversight of Asia, Africa and Oceania, and many dioceses in Latin America, for a total of nearly 1,200 dioceses, more than a third of the total number of dioceses in the world. The appointment of new bishops or cardinals in the areas covered by the Dicastery for Evangelisation depends largely on Pro-Prefect Tagle. In conclusion, 68 cardinals – more than half of those in the conclave – come from Asia (23), Latin America (23), Oceania (4) and Africa (18), and almost all of them have links with Tagle. It is therefore very likely that Cardinal Tagle will be a strong candidate in the first rounds of voting.
But who is Tagle? He is known for his training in the ‘Bologna School’, which interprets the Second Vatican Council as a ‘rupture’, a new beginning in the history of the Church; a new beginning that was blocked and betrayed by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
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