New pope: Youngest Filipino cardinal Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle among 10 candidates

Gulf News

At 55, Tagle is the youngest cardinal in the history of the Philippines

 

Manila, 04 Mar 2013: Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is among the top ten candidates for the next pope to replace Emeritus Pope Benedict, reports have said.

 

 

“When it comes to the ten candidates most likely to become the next pope, I agree that Cardinal Tagle’s name is one those most often heard in the ratings,” Father Francisco Lucas of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Social Communications and Mass Media said in an interview by radio station dzMM on Sunday.Lucas said although Tagle figured strongly in the ratings, there is no assurance that he will be the next pope as, after all, the Philippines never had a pope.

Tagle at 55, is the youngest cardinal in the country’s history and is certainly the most affable. His moving sermons are among the most followed by Filipino parishioners.

Although the Philippines is considered the bastion of Catholicism in Southeast Asia, the country had never featured strongly in the papal selection process which is dominated by traditionally Catholic strongholds in Europe. Filipinos had been closely watching the papal selection process following the announcement by Pope Benedict that he was now officially in retirement due to health reasons.