Filipino cardinal emerges as leading candidate following Pope Francis’ death
After Pope Francis’ death on April 21, the Vatican City is on a quest to find his successor. Among all the names, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has now emerged as the top contender. Tagle is also known as the “Asian Francis” because of his infectious smile, easy laugh, and spontaneity with words.
The 67-year-old cardinal, who prefers to be called by his diminutive nickname “Chito,” has headed the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, effectively the Church’s missionary arm, for the past five years.
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Similarities to Pope Francis are seen as advantage
Tagle hails from a country far from the Catholic Church’s traditional power base in Europe, like Pope Francis. He came to Rome with a fresh and outsider view.
As per Reuters, Tagle tops an unofficial list of people likely to be the next Pope. People who have chosen Tagle have said that if cardinal electors want to choose someone similar to Pope Francis on Wednesday (May 7), Tagle would be the best option.
“He would represent a continuity of what Pope Francis has been doing,” said Rev. Emmanuel Alfonso, a former student of Tagle’s who has known him for decades.
“He’s really like Pope Francis in terms of his love for the poor, his approachability, and so on,” he added.
Background and potential concerns
Tagle speaks Italian, English, and Spanish as well as his native Tagalog. He has five years of experience with the Vatican’s arcane bureaucracy. One possible weakness in Tagle’s candidacy is that he was involved in a management scandal three years ago.
Pope Francis removed Tagle from a second job as titular head of a Vatican-based confederation of 162 Catholic relief organizations.
