The Catholic church may soon have its first Asian pope as cardinals prepare to elect the following leader of 1.4 billion faithful.
The Christian world is mourning Pope Francis, the Argentine who died on Monday aged 88 after affected by a serious bout of pneumonia in recent weeks.
His death could pave the best way for Luis Antonio Tagle to change into the primary pope from Asia, home to the world’s fastest-growing Catholic population.
The former archbishop of Manila was once considered Francis’ preferred successor but reportedly fell out of favour over alleged “shortcomings” during his leadership of the Vatican charity Caritas International.
Tagle, 67, was created cardinal by Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI in 2012, making him certainly one of the youngest cardinals on the time.
Given the character of cardinal appointments made by Francis, there may be some expectation that his successor will likely be one other non-European and hold progressive, liberal values just like his.
However, the election process that may happen once Francis is buried is very secretive and nothing will likely be certain until white smoke pours from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, telling the world that a latest pope has been picked.
Electing a pope from the Philippines could give the Catholic church access to China, where they’ve been desperate to expand, analysts say.
On paper, Tagle, who generally prefers to be called by his nickname “Chito”, seems to tick all of the boxes to be the following pontiff.
He comes from what is named “Asia’s Catholic lung” – the Philippines has the region’s largest Catholic population. His mother was an ethnic Chinese Filipino. He speaks fluent Italian and English.
He has had a long time of pastoral experience since his ordination to priesthood in 1982. He also has administrative experience, first as bishop of Imus after which as archbishop of Manila.
Tagle is understood for his progressive views on homosexuality. He has spoken against abortion previously, nevertheless.
In 2019, Tagle was called by Francis to remain in Rome as prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, which is liable for missionary work.
In 2022, nevertheless, Francis fired your entire leadership of Caritas International following accusations of bullying and humiliation of employees and appointed a commissioner to run it.
Tagle, who was also faraway from his role, had been nominally president but was not involved in day by day operations, which were overseen by a lay director general.
Announcing the pope’s dramatic decision, Tagle told a gathering of the confederation that the changes were a moment for “facing our failures”. It stays to be seen how the saga will impact Tagle’s possibilities on the papacy.
Cardinals are the pope’s closest collaborators, running key departments on the Vatican and dioceses all over the world. When a pontiff dies or resigns, cardinals aged under 80 enter a secret conclave to decide on the brand new head of the Catholic church from amongst themselves.
There are a complete of 252 cardinals, 135 of them cardinal electors under 80. As many as 108 of the electors were appointed by Francis, 22 by his predecessor Benedict and five by John Paul II.
The complex vote will reveal if the cardinals consider Francis’ embrace of liberal social values and his progressive reform agenda have gone too far and whether a period of retrenchment is required.
While Europe still has the most important share of cardinal electors, with about 39 per cent, it’s down from 52 per cent in 2013 when Francis became the primary Latin American pope.
The second largest group of electors is from Asia and Oceania, about 20 per cent, who may very well be paramount in selecting Tagle as the following pope.
