Cardinal Tagle Becomes First Asian Dean of the College of Cardinals, Approved by Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV has approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as dean of the Catholic Church's College of Cardinals, the Vatican said Friday — the first time an Asian cleric has been chosen to lead the elite body that will one day pick Leo's successor. Tagle, 69, a former archbishop of Manila, has served as a senior Vatican official since 2020 and leads the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Church's missionary arm. A close ally of the late Pope Francis, he was widely seen as a leading candidate in the May 2025 conclave that elected Leo. He replaces Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, who is retiring. The dean is considered 'first among equals' among the Church's highest-ranking clerics and takes charge of the secretive conclave process when a pope dies or resigns. Elected by his peers and approved by the pope, the dean serves a five-year term that can be renewed once; the role has mostly been filled by Europeans, though Benin's Cardinal Bernardin Gantin held it from 1993 to 2002.
(Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：菲律宾枢机主教路易斯·安东尼奥·塔格莱肖像（资料图）
