The parishioners of Manila who have interacted with the man who has preached from the pulpit of the Cathedral for decades dressed in his characteristic purple cassock, say that he speaks a language older than Tagalog: that of compassion towards the poorest. The same language mastered by Pope Francis.
In the slums of the capital of the Philippines, Luis Antonio Tagle is well known. There, they have seen him play with barefoot children and share rice with beggars. "God always hides in the margins of society. And it is there where his figure shines the most: not as a prince of the Church, but as its closest servant to the dust," said the 67-year-old religious leader.
In his homeland, heavily affected by monsoons, they dream that Tagle will take over from Francis and become the next Pope, the first Asian since the 8th century. His reformist profile, following the line of the Argentine Pontiff, places him as one of the top favorites in the Vatican conclave.
Tagle was supported by Francis from the beginning of his papacy in 2013. The international spotlight soon began to focus on the Filipino as a possible successor, particularly during the late Pope's first Asian tour to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in 2015. The cameras did not miss the good rapport between them.
Tagle and Francis shared the same pastoral objectives: prioritizing attention to the poor, promoting missions, and opening the church to all groups traditionally rejected by the Catholic ideal, such as LGBTQ individuals.
The Filipino has always led a very austere life, renouncing, like Francis did, having a driver when he was appointed cardinal, always using Manila's chaotic public transportation. In some interviews, Tagle has been critical of the more conservative sectors of the Church - especially regarding homosexuality, single mothers, or divorced Catholics - and has not hidden his more progressive political inclinations.
Some years ago, Tagle revealed on social media a surprising facet that led his Filipino followers to call him a 'rockstar': the cardinal posted videos in a casual tone (even dancing) in which, among many other issues, he campaigned for sexual education to be introduced in schools in his country and for the entire Catholic community to accept opening the doors of churches to the homosexual community.
Although he has also maintained a very firm stance on abortion, which is punishable by imprisonment in the Philippines, a country where, thanks to over three centuries of Spanish colonization, 80% of the population identifies as Catholic, making this Asian nation the third with the largest number of Catholics in the world, after Brazil and Mexico. Asia, along with Africa, is the continent where the Catholic community grows the most each year. Pope Francis was aware of this and strongly advocated for greater evangelization in the region.
Tagle accompanied Francis on some of his trips to Asia, although the Pontiff could not fulfill his desire to visit China, where an estimated 12 million Catholics reside. Tagle may find the doors of the communist regime more open if he is elected the next Pope. His maternal grandfather was born in China and emigrated to the Philippines as a child.
On his paternal side, Tagle has Spanish ancestry. His surname comes from a small coastal town in the municipality of Suances, in Cantabria. The cardinal visited there in 2017, invited by the local parish priest Baldomero Maza, who discovered the Spanish ancestry of the now papal candidate. During his stroll in Cantabria, Tagle officiated a mass in a small church in the town.
The Filipino entered the seminary in the early 1980s, was appointed bishop in 2001, Archbishop of Manila in 2011, and elevated to cardinal in 2012 by Benedict XVI, becoming the seventh religious figure from his country to reach that rank. The great trust that Francis had in Tagle was reflected when he placed him in charge of Caritas International in 2015, the second-largest charitable organization in the world after the Red Cross. Amid the renewal of the Roman Curia, Francis also brought him to Rome in 2019 to lead the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
However, Tagle's resume has a significant stain related precisely to his time at the helm of Caritas. In November 2022, the Pope dismissed the entire board of directors of the organization, starting with the Filipino, after an external audit revealed management issues. Little information was made public about this case, and there were no direct accusations of corruption pointing towards Tagle, who was still affected because, after all, he was the institution's top official.
After the scandal, Tagle, who continued to maintain a very close relationship with Francis, faced several critics inside and outside the Vatican who questioned his ability to lead the Holy See after his poor management at Caritas.