The Vatican said Pope Leo approved Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle's election as dean of the College of Cardinals, the first Asian cleric in the role.
Pope Leo approved Filipino Cardinal Luis Tagle's election as dean of the College of Cardinals, the Vatican said on Friday, Reuters reported. Tagle is the first Asian cleric chosen to lead the body that would run a conclave after a pope dies or resigns.
Tagle, 69, is a former archbishop of Manila and has been a senior Vatican official since 2020. He leads the Dicastery for Evangelization. He replaces Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, who is retiring from the role.
Reuters said Tagle was widely seen as a possible candidate in the May 2025 conclave that elected Leo after the death of Pope Francis. The dean is described as first among equals among the Church's highest-ranking clerics and would take charge of the conclave in the Sistine Chapel.
Leo, 71, is relatively young for a pope and is in good health, Reuters reported, so the appointment does not imply an imminent conclave. The report is the Vatican's announcement of an internal Church election, not a change in doctrine.
The Philippines is outside this brief's country list, and the decision was taken at the Vatican, so the row is filed as World.
People Sentiments Neutral
- Reuters described Tagle as a close ally of the late Pope Francis, sometimes called by the nickname Chito.