MANILA, Philippines–He flunked the test for aspiring seminarians and had to beg to be accepted at the San Jose Major Seminary in Ateneo. It was only out of pity that he was taken in on probation for one semester.
Now, Archbishop-elect Luis Antonio Tagle will be occupying the most influential and richest diocese in the Philippines and, some predict, play an influential role in the Aquino administration.
On Thursday, Oct. 13, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Tagle, a doctorate student he once mentored, as the new Archbishop of Manila, succeeding the 79-year-old Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales. Tagle’s appointment was announced by the Vatican at 12 noon Thursday (6 pm Manila time), in a letter to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) by the Apostolic Nunciature in Manila.
Tagle beat other contenders and huge names in the Catholic hierarchy, including former CBCP president Angel Lagdameo, to become the 3nd archbishop of Manila.
He is reportedly close to Pope Benedict XVI, having worked with the Pontiff when he was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pope Benedict mentored him when he was finishing his doctoral thesis in sacred theology, according to sources privy to this information.
Tagle has been bishop of the Imus diocese of Cavite for the past nine years.
“I write to inform you that the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has appointed His Excellency Most Reverend Luis Antonio Tagle, until now Bishop of Imus, as Archbishop of Manila,” said Monsignor Gabor Pinter, Charge D’ Affaires.
The youngest among those considered for the highly-coveted Manila post, Tagle, 54, is bringing with him conservative and traditional views.
And within the current political context, Vatican might just have thrown a monkey wrench into the Aquino administration’s population policy.
Church observers say Tagle’s appointment added a new dimension in the Church campaign against the divisive Reproductive Health Bill that is being pushed by the Aquino government.
Tagle is closely associated with the Cojuangcos and the Lopas, the President’s relatives. He is one of the few bishops who has access to Malacanang, and one of the closest to the President and his siblings. The other Church leader close to the Aquinos is Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas.
Villegas is a protégé of the late Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin.
With Tagle at the helm of a powerful Church position, he is expected to exercise his moral suasion on the President over the RH Bill.
“Is the Vatican using the soft approach on the President this time on the RH?,” one observer, who spoke on condition he is not named, noted.
Rosales and Aquino have had a thorny relationship, even before the latter could assume the presidency. Rosales criticized Aquino’s vague position on family planning during the campaign. The outspoken cardinal also led protest rallies against the RH in Manila.
Staunch defender of the faith
Rosales, 79, already tendered his resignation four years ago when he reached 75, the mandatory age of retirement for prelates.
Vatican however deferred his retirement, as it scouted for a suitable successor.
Rome found the successor in Tagle, considered as one of the staunchest defenders of the Catholic faith.
Tagle’s religious path has had its share of twists and turns. In an earlier profile by Newsbreak, we wrote that he had wanted to become a physician, but fell in love with priesthood during his senior year in high school.
For someone who entered the seminary on probation, Tagle did well in the end, finishing his philosophy studies summa cum laude. His grades reportedly rivaled that of national hero Jose Rizal’s, a reputation that Tagle sought to downplay.
He only wanted to become a priest and had agonized when Rome offered him a bishop’s position. He accepted the Imus assignment out of obedience to Mother Church.
With his Manila assignment, Tagle is expected to rise in the ranks and to be named Cardinal in the future. Manila and Cebu are the only two Church posts where the heads hold the position of a cardinal.
Although considered politically conservative, Tagle’s new role automatically puts him in a political hot seat—whether he likes it or not— because of the archdiocese’s unique ecclesiastical position.
Traditionally, the Archbishop of Manila is the de facto head of the Catholic Church, a role that Sin played to perfection.
Rosales initially refused to play the role but had to, albeit reluctantly, as demanded by the post.
Highly in-demand as speaker and lecturer in forums and retreats because of his charisma, Tagle is known as a theologian in Church circles.
But sources expect changes in Tagle’s demeanor and in his political views.
“The position will shape the man,” commented retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz in an earlier interview.
Ordained in 1982, at the age of 25, Tagle’s life has centered on secular activities.
Between 1985 to 1992, he took up studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. where he got his Doctorate in Sacred Theology.
Since 1997, Tagle is a member of the International Theological Commission of the Vatican. In 1998, he was one of the experts named at the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia that took place in Rome.
At present, he is also the chairman of the Commission on Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
On December 12, 2001, he was ordained Bishop of Imus.
At the first gathering of bishops under Benedict XVI in Rome in 2005, the Synod of Bishops, he was elected member of the post-synodal Council and assistant to Cardinal Angelo Scola, general reporter of this Synod.
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By: Aries Rufo
Source: Newsbreak, Oct. 13, 2011
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