Cardinal Tagle gets 2 Vatican posts

MANILA -- Proving anew Pope Benedict XVI's confidence with the newest Filipino cardinal, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has now been appointed to two vital councils in the Vatican.

According to a report by CBCP News, the Pope named Tagle as a member of the presiding committee of the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

"Pope Benedict XVI has given Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle new assignments to help him govern the universal church," noted the official news agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

However, this would not mean that Tagle will be uprooted from Manila as he will be keeping his main job.

As member of the two Rome-based offices, Tagle may attend the Council's important meetings and receive regular correspondence from Rome on matters that need consensus.

It was only back in November when Tagle officially became a cardinal and introduced as a member of the College of Cardinals.

In a related development, CBCP News reported that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to issue for public circulation 50-peso commemorative bills bearing an image of Saint Pedro Calungsod.

In an interview with CBCP News, National Commission on the Canonization of Calungsod Secretary General Henrietta de Villa said she has no idea yet as to how many copies will be made but they are expected to be out for public circulation before April.

"The limited-edition bills commemorate the recent canonization of the second Filipino saint," said de Villa.

Last October, Pope Benedict XVI officially canonized Calungsod, a teenage Catholic missionary who died a martyr in Guam more than three centuries ago. (HDT/Sunnex)