CARDINAL Luis Antonio Tagle on Sunday said he was surprised over his appointment as Cardinal-Bishop by Pope Francis and asked for prayers from the public for him to do well in his new appointment.
Speaking during the Good Shepherd Sunday Mass at the Ponficio Collegio Filipino in Rome, Tagle said he did not expect the appointment giving him a position considered the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.
“This is unexpected. But in faith and in trusting the Lord and the Holy Father, we said yes,” Tagle said, adding: “I know I’m not alone. You are with us in prayer and in communion in service of the Church.”
Also appointed by the pontiff to the same post last Friday is Italian Cardinal Beniamino Cardinal Stella Porto. Tagle, the only Asian among the Cardinal-Bishops, is 62 years old while Porto is 65.
All cardinals are eligible to succeed the pontiff as the new pope but cardinals who reach the age of 80 before the Holy See becomes vacant cannot vote in a conclave. Among the active Cardinal-Bishops, only six out of 11 can still vote.
“I would like to thank you for your kind words and greetings,” Tagle told the public.
Tagle was appointed on December 8, 2019 as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Holy See or the Vatican’s head of missions. He assumed that post last February.
Before his appointment last December, Tagle headed the Archdiocese of Manila and also had a stint as Bishop of Imus. Tagle is well known in the Philippines for his religion-related television shows and for being vocal against the spate of violence under President Duterte’s administration.
