Pope Francis Greets Cardinal Luis Tagle – CTV Screenshot
Cardinal Tagle Named Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
Cardinal Filoni Assumes Post of Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher
The Cardinal Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Tagle is the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Vatican News reported. The appointment of Pope Francis was announced Sunday, December 8, 2019. The current Prefect, Fernando Filoni, assumes the post of Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher in place of Cardinal Edwin Frederick O’Brien, who resigned in April 2019 and turned 80.
With the nomination of Cardinal Tagle, an Asian cardinal returned to the leadership of Propaganda Fide (the ancient name of the important department for evangelization, which is also responsible for episcopal nominations in mission lands), after the years of Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias (2006-2011). Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, born on June 21, 1957, in Manila to a Catholic family – his father of Tagalog ethnicity and his mother of Chinese origin – was ordained priest in 1982. He studied in the United States where he obtained his doctorate in theology with a thesis on the evolution of the notion of episcopal collegiality since the Second Vatican Council. He spent seven years in Rome to deepen his studies and in 1997 joined the International Theological Commission.
After having been parish priest of the cathedral of Imus, at the age of 44 he was nominated bishop of that diocese by Saint John Paul II in October 2001. He dedicated himself in particular to youth ministry and inaugurated the first meeting of young Asians in Imus. On October 13, 2011, Benedict XVI appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila and thirteen months later, in November 2012, during the last consistory of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI he received the cardinal’s hat. In addition to leading the diocese of the Philippine metropolis, Tagle is also president of Caritas Internationalis and the Catholic Biblical Federation. With this choice, announced a few days before the end of his trip to Thailand and Japan, Francis once again shows great attention to the Asian continent. With the designation of Tagle, which follows by a few weeks that of the Spanish Jesuit Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves as Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, two new heads of department will be installed at the beginning of 2020 in the Roman Curia.
Pope Francis then appointed 73-year-old Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of Propaganda Fide from 2011 to the present day, who becomes Prefect Emeritus of the same Dicastery, the new Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Filoni was apostolic nuncio to Iraq from 2001 to 2006 and lived in Baghdad during the war of 2003. Then for a year, he was the Pope’s ambassador to the Philippines before being called to the Secretariat of State as Substitute, a post he held until 2011. His experience in the Middle East will be valuable in the new task, as the Order of the Holy Sepulchre cooperates particularly with the Middle Eastern Christian communities and supports them with many projects.
In a statement, Cardinal O’Brien expressed his great appreciation for the Pope’s decision, and said he is particularly happy that Cardinal Filoni has been chosen as his successor: “His long and extensive pastoral and administrative service in our Universal Church”, O’Brien said, “will be precious in guiding the Order on its future path”.
Read the source: https://zenit.org/articles/cardinal-tagle-named-prefect-of-the-congregation-for-the-evangelization-of-peoples/
Dec 9,2019
Pope Francis named Card. Luis Antonio Tagle as Prefect of Propaganda Fide, one of the major Vatican dicasteries. The congregation is in charge of supporting the Church in its mission lands. It is responsible for one out of every three Catholics.
Card. Tagle is 62 years old and until now has been the archbishop of Manila in the Philippines. He boasts a solid theological formation and great sensitivity to people in need. He was part of the International Theological Commission. He wrote his doctoral thesis on the evolution of the episcopal collegiality of the Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. He is the president of Caritas Internationalis.
He has been seen crying at the Vatican on two occasions. The first was during his appointment as cardinal. The second was when he spoke to the pope after the catastrophic typhoon, Haiyan, which left 6,000 people dead.
With this appointment, the pope entrusts an important Vatican position to an archbishop from Asia. In Rome, it is an underrepresented continent.
His predecessor in Propaganda Fide, Card. Fernando Filoni, will take the place of Card. Edwin O’Brien. At 80 years old, Card. O’Brien left his position as Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
It is one of the most active institutions supporting Christians in the Holy Land.
Javier Romero
Translation: Claudia Torres
Cardinal Tagle named head of Vatican evangelization office
.- Pope Francis Sunday appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines, to lead the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Tagle, 62, follows Cardinal Fernando Filoni as prefect, usually referred to by its historic name of Propaganda Fide.
Charged with the Church’s missionary works and territories, Propaganda Fide is one of the largest curial departments, with a size and scope exceeding almost any other.
The beneficiary of centuries of dedicated legacies and bequests, Propaganda Fide is also the most financially autonomous curial department.
Praedicate evangelium, the new curial constitution, not yet promulgated, is expected to place an even further emphasis on evangelization as the structural priority of the Church’s mission, with the possible merger of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization into a single larger department.
As the head of a curial department, Tagle will no longer be the archbishop of Manila, a post he has held since December 2011. He was made a cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2012.
Since 2015, he has been president of Caritas Internationalis. Tagle was also very involved in the October 2018 youth synod.
Tagle was born in Manila in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1982 for the Diocese of Imus, Philippines. He served as bishop of Imus from 2001 to 2011.
His episcopal motto is Dominus est (It is the Lord). From 1997 to 2002 he was on the International Theological Commission, appointed by St. Pope John Paul II.
Filoni, who headed Propaganda Fide since 2011, was Dec. 8 named Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, following the retirement of Cardinal Edwin O’Brien at the age of 80.
In a statement Dec. 8, O’Brien said he accepts and appreciates the pope’s decision to accept his resignation, appointing Cardinal Filoni as his successor.
The order supports around 80% of the total operating budget of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, supporting parishes, schools, and Christians in Jordan, Palestine, Israel and Cyprus.
“Throughout my more than eight years as Grand Master, my personal faith and love of our Church have deepened as I have witnessed our members’ commitment to the goals of our Order, expressed in different cultures and languages, all profoundly Catholic!” O’Brien said.
Read the source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/cardinal-tagle-named-head-of-vatican-evangelization-office-83714
‘ASIAN POPE FRANCIS’ TAPPED TO HEAD MAJOR VATICAN OFFICE
Philippines Cdl. Luis Tagle in the mold of current pontiff
VATICAN (ChurchMilitant.com) – Pope Francis is giving a new post to a Filipino cardinal seen as soft on morality.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines, has been picked to head the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Pope Francis announced the new appointment on Sunday. To become prefect of the congregation, Cdl. Tagle has to leave his post as Manila’s archbishop.
Some see the appointment as putting Cdl. Tagle one step closer to potentially becoming pope. Cardinal Tagle was seen as papabile, a likely candidate for the papacy, in the lead-up to the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.
The 62-year-old has been a proponent of allowing Holy Communion for the divorced and civilly remarried on a case-by-case basis.
In March 2015, the Catholic Herald asked Cdl. Tagle about Communion for those in adulterous second unions. He answered, “Every situation for those who are divorced and remarried is quite unique. To have a general rule might be counterproductive in the end.”
“My position at the moment is to ask, ‘Can we take every case seriously and is there, in the tradition of the Church, paths towards addressing each case individually?'” he continued. “This is one issue that I hope people will appreciate is not easy to say ‘no’ or to say ‘yes’ to. We cannot give one formula for all.”
During the 2014 Synod on the Family in Rome, Cdl. Tagle trumpeted the synod’s “spirit of listening.”
The 2014 and 2015 synods were panned by faithful Catholics, outraged by the push to grant Holy Communion to divorcees who civilly remarried without a decree of nullity for their previous marriage.
Cardinal Tagle is president of Caritas Internationalis, a Vatican-run charity that has member-organizations around the world. The charity recently came under fire for having a predator priest working for one of its member organizations in Africa.
A CNN investigation published late last month found that Fr. Luk Delft, a Belgian priest with the Salesian fathers, was allowed to work for Caritas in the Central African Republic (CAR), despite a prior conviction of child sexual abuse.
In Belgium in 2012, Delft was convicted on charges of child sex abuse and child pornography. As a result, he was prohibited from interacting with minors for the next 10 years.
Also in 2012, Delft traveled to CAR to work for Caritas in a refugee camp. Both the Salesian order and the Belgian probations committee allowed him to fly to Africa. He became the director of Caritas’ operations in the CAR.
While in CAR, Fr. Delft allegedly sexually abused at least two underage boys.
Alban Alain was 13 years old when he says Fr. Delft sexually abused him four years ago.
“It’s a horrible thing that he did to me,” Alain told CNN.
Tagle has been the president of Caritas since 2015. However, Caritas is structured as a confederation of smaller charities, which has the effect that its member organizations — like the one where Delft worked until earlier this year — are largely autonomous.
Michel Roy, former secretary-general of Caritas, claims he informed the Salesians, Cdl. Tagle and the Caritas member organization in CAR about a therapist’s letter in 2017 that stated that Delft should not be trusted around children.
“I informed Caritas CAR about the therapist’s letter and asked them to ensure that the issue was followed up with his order,” Roy penned in a recent statement. “I was told that the issue had been resolved.”
Delft remained on staff at Caritas CAR, in spite of the sex abuse allegations, until CNN contacted the organization earlier this year.
Born in 1957 in Manila, Tagle was ordained a priest of the Manila archdiocese in 1982. In the years that followed, he took on various roles in the diocese of Imus; for instance, he was the spiritual director (1982–1983) and later the rector (1983–1985) of the diocesan seminary.
In 2001, Tagle was appointed bishop of the Imus diocese. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Tagle archbishop of Manila. He soon elevated Tagle to the cardinalate, just months before Benedict’s resignation from the papacy in 2013.
Tagle generally prefers to go by the nickname “Chito” instead of clerical titles. His leadership style has been compared to that of Pope Francis, earning him the label “the Asian Pope Francis.”
In becoming prefect for the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, Cdl. Tagle is replacing 73-year-old Cdl. Fernando Filoni, who has held the post since 2011. Filoni is now being re-assigned the new Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, replacing Cdl. Edwin O’Brien.
Read the source: https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/cardinal-tagle-picked-to-head-vatican-office