Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle
Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, 55, took over the Archdiocese of Manila from Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales in October last year.
A former member of a theological body once headed by the Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Tagle served as Imus bishop before becoming the 32nd archbishop of Manila.
With his appointment, Tagle became the youngest Manila archbishop after the Irish-born James Michael O’Doherty, who was appointed in 1916.
Tagle was ordained a priest in 1982 and appointed Imus bishop in 2001.
Tagle earned his AB Philosophy degree from Ateneo de Manila University and San Jose Seminary in 1973.
He then took up masteral studies in theology at the Loyola School of Theology and San Jose Seminary.
From 1985 to 1992, Tagle was sent for further studies to the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., where he earned his doctorate in sacred theology.
Tagle served as member of the International Theological Commission while it was still chaired by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI. Tagle served as a theologian of at least two ordinary synods at the Vatican.
In 2010, Tagle was appointed apostolic visitator of seminaries in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.
This year, he assumed the chairmanship of the Pondo ng Pinoy Community Foundation.
He is also currently the chairman of the Commission on Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
He was born in Manila on June 21, 1957.