CARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines has been considered one of the leading candidates to succeed Pope Francis amid speculations about the latter's possible resignation, a London-based Roman Catholic publication reported.
Francis, 85, earlier denied that he was planning to retire any time soon but said in recent interviews that that he would step down if the time was right. He repeated that “the door is open” after Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 became the first pope in 600 years to step down.
Speculations about his resignation were fueled by Vatican’s announcement in June that the Pope would not be going on a trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan due to his knee ailment.
On August 5, Catholic Herald reported that the Pope is said to favor Cardinal Tagle as his successor.
“While various names have been thrown around for the next Pope, such as Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet or Dutch Cardinal Wim Eijk on the conservative side -- alongside compromise figures like Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech or Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi -- the Pope is said to favour Cardinal Tagle or Italian Cardinal and Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,” it stated in its report titled “Erdő vs. Tagle: the battle to be the next Pope.”
It added that “a Pope from the developing world -- such as the Philippines’ Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle -- would be hailed by liberals, given the changing demographics of the Church.”
Another leading candidate, according to Catholic Herald, is Hungary's Cardinal Péter Erdő, the archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest.
“A contest between Erdő and Tagle would show a Church at a crossroads, not just between conservatives and liberals, but between the forces of traditionalism in Europe -- the original heart of Catholicism -- and the changing face of the faith, focused more in the developing world, yet still largely conservative in outlook, not least on LGBT issues. If symbolism matters, then Erdő vs. Tagle would be a contest not just of ideas but of perception and identity,” the report stated.
Newsweek, a news magazine and website, also published an article in June 2022 stating that Cardinal Tagle “has been given 5/1 odds of being elected the next pope by British bookmakers OLBG.”
“Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila who was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI, is viewed as a top papal contender thanks to a series of promotions that make Francis' esteem for him clear,” Newsweek noted.
Whoever will be named the next Pope “will say a great deal about the direction of a Church,” according to Catholic Herald.
Cardinal Tagle, 64, was raised to cardinal's rank in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
In December 2019, he was appointed as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which oversees the Catholic Church in Asia, Africa and other mission territories.
Prior to his appointment to the Holy See, Tagle had been serving as the Archbishop of Manila since 2011. He has been hailed as the "Asian Francis." (LMY)