Cardinal Chito Tagle: The Filipino papabile
Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle attends a rosary prayer at Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome on April 24, 2025. The Vatican on April 24 said some 61,000 people had already paid their respects to Pope Francis, whose body is lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica ahead of his funeral. Agence France-Presse
The College of Cardinals, clad in their red cassocks, solemnly processed towards the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s awe-inspiring frescoes depict three hundred figures from Genesis to Revelation. The chapel’s giant doors dwarfed the 115 mortals who had the gargantuan task of electing the next Vicar of Christ. The image of the Last Judgment at the altar in front of them served both as a reminder and a warning.
There was only one Filipino representative in this historic event that eventually voted for Pope Francis in 2013. “I was a cardinal for only two months…. As we walked towards the Sistine Chapel, it suddenly dawned on me that I was the only Filipino cardinal at that time who could vote. I said, ‘Wow. I’m the only one of 90 million Filipinos who will witness this event.’ So in a way that’s the burden and also the best part of it,” Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, more fondly called Cardinal Chito, said during a past interview with Kerygma (now Feast magazine).
The world has since heard much more about Cardinal Chito, especially when Pope Francis appointed him as part of the Roman Curia, which is the Vatican’s version of a cabinet of a democratic country like the Philippines or the United States. Aside from being the headquarters of the Catholic faith, the Vatican also operates as a government, with its administrative units called dicasteries.
READ: All eyes turn to conclave after Pope Francis’ funeral
Cardinal Chito left his position as Archbishop of Manila and moved to Rome in February 2020. He now serves as the Pro-Prefect of the Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization. Vatican insiders say that he is the third most powerful person in the Vatican, next only to the Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State.
Cardinal Chito could very well have chosen a residence inside the Vatican. Instead, after a day’s work, he drives back to the Pontificio Collegio Filippino, the “home in Rome” of Filipino secular priests sent by their bishops for further formation in the Eternal City.
Fighting clerical isolation
One can only guess why the highest cleric of the Philippine Church chooses to live at the Collegio. On any given day, Cardinal Chito can start his day celebrating Mass with the young resident priests, some of whom were his students when he taught theology and philosophy in the seminary back in the Philippines. He gets the chance to mingle and maybe even mentor them during casual encounters as they line up for food and share a table at the refectory, or on more formal occasions when he gives a talk at their monthly recollections or annual retreats. Another perk of staying in the Collegio is having homecooked Filipino meals, like his favorite pancit and steamed fish, lovingly prepared by Ate Bing, their Filipino in-house cook.
Recognizing the challenge of secularism and isolation that plagues priests today, Cardinal Chito helped to organize a Vatican conference on clerical formation in February 2024. Before a crowd of a thousand priests from all over the world, the cardinal said, “Precisely because we are ordained to the service of God and the church, we need to be continuously formed”—through prayer, study, spiritual direction, discipline, simple living. As a result, he said, “The church will also receive the quality service it deserves.” He emphasized the need for priests to have “cultural intelligence,” saying, “We need ongoing formation and conversion to become credible and effective agents of communion among culturally diverse people.” Though not a Collegio alumnus, Cardinal Chito completed his licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology at the Catholic University of America. Aside from the benefits and experience culled by studying abroad, he also had international exposure having served in both Asian and worldwide conferences, commissions, and synods.
Using media for evangelization
His passion for new and creative forms of evangelization was obvious even in his younger days as a priest. Though not a Jesuit, he was formed at San Jose Seminary, which is run by the Society of Jesus and is located inside its Ateneo de Manila campus in the Philippines. When Cardinal Chito was a seminarian, he collaborated with Fr. Eduardo “Honti” Hontiveros, SJ, who was mentoring the Barangka Choir (now known as Tinig Barangka). Father Chito often served as their conductor during live concerts held in parishes to introduce original liturgical songs. “Santo, Santo, Santo was still new then and people would applaud when they heard it,” he recalled with fondness. Aside from being part of the choir, he also collaborated with Father Honti, now dubbed as the Father of Filipino liturgical music, to compose songs like “Liwanag ng Aming Puso” and “Pintig ng Puso Ko.”
READ: What goes on at the conclave and how next pope is elected
In 2006, Fr. Aristotle Dy, SJ, past president of Jesuit Communications and a former student of the cardinal, invited him to host Kape’t Pandasal, a two-minute Gospel reflection that aired on the now defunct ABS-CBN channel. It was an innovative way to preach the Good News in those days, and Tagle, then a bishop, accepted.
When he received his Vatican assignment, Cardinal Chito thought of quitting the show because he knew it would be challenging to find time to shoot in the Vatican given the weight of his new role. But while buying coffee during a stopover in Dubai, two Filipino baristas recognized him. “One asked me, ‘Are you the bishop?’ I said, ‘Ah, yes.’ The Filipino continued, ‘Thanks to Kape’t Pandasal and The Word Exposed. Because we’re not able to go to Mass [due to work]. But when we watch shows like that, it’s like we also prayed,’” the cardinal narrated during the 20th-anniversary special of Kape’t Pandasal, his voice choking with tears.
Challenges for the New Pope
While Filipinos are rooting for their very own kababayan to be chosen as the next pope, those who understand the weight of standing in the shoes of the fisherman know the personal toll this takes. For one, becoming pope means Cardinal Chito will no longer be able to visit his homeland for unofficial visits. (In his thirteen-year papacy, Pope Francis never returned to Argentina, although he had expressed his desire to visit a couple of times.)
READ: Don’t cry for me Argentina: Why Pope Francis never visited his homeland
Despite Cardinal Chito’s hectic schedule, he finds time to return to Manila twice a year—for the birthdays of his nonagenarian parents, Manuel and Milagros Tagle. Considering the security and full-scale coordination needed between countries when a head of state visits, these biannual trips will no longer be possible should two-thirds of 135 eligible cardinals vote for him at the conclave.
There are also the complexities of the times that the new pope will face. Traditionalists who opposed Pope Francis’ compassionate stand on LGBTQ and divorce hope for a successor who will uphold the church’s unyielding teachings on marriage and sexuality. Pope Francis was also vocal about conflicts in different parts of the world, advocating for “honorable compromises” for warring countries for the sake of peace.
Pundits point to Cardinal Chito as a reasonable compromise choice for the next pope because of his acceptability among the differing factions of cardinals while being aligned with Francis’ commitment to social justice and love for the marginalized.
Depending on your news source, the odds are heavily stacked in favor of Cardinal Chito Tagle to stand in the shoes of the next pope. Perhaps he was born for such a time as this (cf. Esther 4:4). But whatever the outcome of the conclave, one thing is for sure. The church—and the world—will get the pope it needs for these trying times. We have the Holy Spirit to assure that.
Papabile is an Italian word meaning “candidate for pope,” which comes from “papa” (meaning pope) combined with the suffix “-abile,” meaning “able.”
