Catholic Bishops of the Philippines are right to ask Filipinos not to publicly clamor for Cardinal Tagle’s election to the papacy. I must, however, take exception to their shallow reason for it. They don’t want the negative optics of a people appearing to influence a totally secret conclave even though deep inside they would be delighted at Tagle becoming pope. Which Filipino wouldn’t?
Like the parochial minded people that we are, many Filipinos want Tagle to be pope simply for the bragging rights that come with having a Filipino pope. We fail to consider the wider and weightier implications of an outcome we only care to be proud of. But we must step over the pride of having a Filipino pope. We must instead think Church and world welfare.To do that we must seriously consider if Cardinal Tagle would be the right pope for the Church and the world at this tumultuous and uncertain time in human history.
Cardinal Tagle can go either way. The problem is he is only 67 and popes are elected for life. If he does well and picks it up where Pope Francis left off, Catholicism would thrive as a relevant influence to the world’s underprivileged peoples. But if he bungles it, takes a step backwards and plays politics with Pope Francis’ critics, the world and Catholicism will have to wait 20 some years for the Catholic Church to get back to the humble but divinely loving and compassionate shepherding of Pope Francis.
Cardinal Tagle is generally tagged a moderate in his theology of Church and State. If elected he could make the Church take a step backwards from where Pope Francis has brought it. Should Tagle live as long as Pope Francis that would mean a decade or two of the Church only moving sideways not forward.That would also be how long we Filipinos would be dodging the sneering gaze of a disappointed world. Tagle is simply too young, hence a risky choice, for those who miss Francis’ papacy.
But then, of course, because he is known to be a favorite of Pope Francis (if you can believe the vloggers) he could hit the ground running in the direction compassionate Pope Francis was going. That would make Tagle a risky choice also for Pope Francis’ critics. These will most likely take their chances with an older pope, someone who would soon enough die before bringing the Church farther out into left field.
Obviously, I’m speaking for those who liked how Pope Francis moved the Church towards truth and justice in human relations. The next pope should push the envelope even farther in the fight for the rights of the marginalized of world society, migrants, LGBTQ’s, prisoners, in general the poor and oppressed of the world.
In the end, I hope that whoever gets elected pope continues the trailblazing work of the people’s pope.I dread the day when the Church would go back to square one. Square one is where a Church values souls above lives and does next to nothing to improve the totality of the human condition.