The candy tale: Cardinal Tagle’s ‘first act of charity’ to new pope

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and other Cardinals stand, on the day of the translation of Pope Francis’ body, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

MANILA, Philippines — Who would have thought that Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle’s “first act of charity” to then cardinal, now Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost would be giving him a candy?

And it’s not just the new pope who benefitted from Cardinal Tagle’s sweet treats.

Tagle recalled this funny but fond memory of bringing candies to the conclave in the Sistine Chapel as he said that the papal election would take quite long and he would feel hungry later on.

Tagle also shared that he has been bringing candies to the conclave since the first time he participated in 2013 where Pope Francis was elected.

The cardinal who sat beside him during the 2013 papal race was shocked and amused when he saw the candies, but later on asked for one.

READ: From Cebu to Rome: Pope Leo XIV’s deep ties with the Philippines

“He said: This little boy, bringing candies in the Sistine Chapel’… [He said] Do you have one? I’m hungry, please give me one,” Tagle said in a mix of English and Filipino during a press conference from Rome on Friday afternoon (Philippine time).

The “candy tale” in 2013 did not end there. Tagle recalled that Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, the cardinal who announced Pope Francis’ election to the world, held onto him and expressed his concern due to his Parkinson’s disease.

“He held onto me [and said] ‘I’m scared because the people might not hear my voice’… I said: ‘Be calm.’ I picked a candy out of my pocket and I told him to take it for him to relax,” Tagle added in Filipino.

As the “candy tale” made a comeback in the recent conclave, Tagle mentioned that as he was seated beside Cardinal Prevost, he would then notice the latter sighing in his seat.

READ: Cardinal Tagle on Pope Leo XIV: ‘Very human, humble, but discerning’

“I said, do you want candy? He said, give me one. There, that’s my first act of charity to the new pope. We had those moments,” Tagle said in Filipino, smiling as he relishes the memory.

In the same press conference, when asked of his working relationship with Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, during their dicastery leadership, Tagle described him as “very human, very humble, but very discerning.”

The Filipino cardinal also shared how the new pope has a sense of humor, but is very serious and discerning in his Church duties. /jpv