Philippines’ Tagle touted as Asia’s great hope

DPA/Manila

Soft-spoken and unassuming in his ways, Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 55, is considered a dark horse in the search for the next Pope  as the Catholic Church struggles with controversies that have led to a declining flock.

While his chances are considered slim because he’s young and Asian, Tagle brings with him a strong theological background, a pastoral experience rooted upon his passion for the poor and a humility that could help re-energise the Catholic world.

The archbishop of Manila since December 2011, Tagle is eloquent and media-savvy, helping him better connect with the community, especially the young.

He is the most active cardinal on Facebook and has hosted a weekly television programme since 2008.

“He’s an effective communicator and missionary at a time when Catholicism’s highest internal priority is a new evangelisation,” Rome-based analyst John Allen wrote in a report for the National Catholic Reporter.

“Tagle incarnates the dramatic growth of Catholicism outside the West, putting a face on the dynamic and relatively angst-free form of Catholicism percolating in the southern hemisphere,” he said.

“He would certainly be a symbol of the church in the emerging world, but, given his intellectual and personal qualities, hardly a hollow one,” added Allen, who dubbed Tagle the “great Asian hope” for the papal throne.

In international conferences, Tagle, the second youngest cardinal, has been outspoken about the need for the Church to aggressively address ongoing sexual abuse scandals.

“We do not need to wait for a bomb to explode,” he said at a Vatican-sponsored conference on handling the sexual abuse crisis last year. “Preventing it from exploding is the best response.”

“Our mission (is) to protect human dignity, especially of the most vulnerable, the children,” he added.

Born on June 21, 1957 to a middle-class family, Tagle had wanted to be a doctor and was preparing for medical school when he decided to enter seminary. He has focused on teaching and training priests.

He was appointed to the Vatican’s main doctrinal advisory body in 1997 and was named bishop of the Diocese of Imus in 2001. There, Tagle was known to take the bus to work every day and to invite beggars outside the cathedral to eat with him.

He promised to always remain humble at his homily during his installation as archbishop of Manila in December 2011. He was appointed cardinal one year later.

“I tell myself as though it were the Lord telling me, ‘Chito, do not think you have become great because of your new position. Be great rather in being a beloved and loving disciple of the Lord,” he said, referring to himself by his nickname.