Pope's Filipino host is a humble, rising church star
MANILA, Philippines (AP)
— Pope Francis will be welcomed in this Catholic heartland on Thursday
by a Filipino cardinal who might one day succeed him: a boyish-looking
priest who rode the bus as a bishop and has impressed many with his
intellect, humble life and compassion for the poor.
Cardinal Luis
Antonio Tagle sings on stage, preaches on TV and is on Facebook to
spread the church's message. His down-to-earth demeanor, poignant
homilies and accessibility to the masses reflect many of the same
qualities that have enabled Francis to dazzle the world.
Those
traits and his keen knowledge of theology helped the 57-year-old
archbishop of Manila nurture the faith amid a tide of secularism,
competition from other faiths, clergy sex abuse scandals and other
crises that have rocked the Catholic world. He has emerged as Asia's
most prominent Catholic leader.
When
Tagle's name was mentioned in Vatican circles as among the possible
successors to Pope Benedict XVI two years ago, even the remote prospect
of a Filipino pope electrified many in the heavily Catholic Philippines
and turned him into a celebrity.
"He became the darling of the masses," said Cynthia Campos of the Catholic group Couples for Christ.
"He
has this personal touch, presence or aura that allows him to connect
with the young and the elderly, the rich and the poor," Campos said,
adding she could not help comparing Tagle with Francis, whom she met
last year in the Vatican during a synod of cardinals, bishops and lay
workers.
Rita Asibar, a 53-year-old
who lives with her three children in a Manila garbage dump, said she
prays that Tagle will become pope someday.
"That'll be good for all of us," Asibar said. "Our prayers can easily reach God."
The
churchman who last drew such deep admiration among Filipino Catholics
was Cardinal Jaime Sin, who died in 2005. An influential spiritual
leader and moral compass, Sin helped rally multitudes in the massive
"people power" revolts that ousted two presidents, including dictator
Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
Sin's
death left a vacuum in the church saddled with the task of shepherding
Catholics in a country plagued by poverty, divisions, crime and
long-raging Muslim and Marxist insurgencies. Unlike Sin, Tagle was not
propelled by extraordinary political events; people who know him say he
slowly carved a reputation for simple, day-to-day acts that defined him
as a man of deep faith and compassion.
Even as a bishop, Tagle did
not own a car. He took buses or popular working-class minibuses known
as "jeepneys" to church and elsewhere. He ate with workers and sang for
church charities, impressing many with his baritone."He told me that from time to time, he would go to the slums and eat and exchange stories with the residents there," Campos said. She added that the cardinal maintains Twitter and Facebook accounts to stay in touch with large numbers of tech-savvy Filipinos.
Both
Benedict and Francis placed high hopes on Tagle. Benedict appointed him
archbishop of Manila in 2011 and made him a cardinal in 2012. Francis
followed up with a vote of confidence by naming him one of three
presidents of the cornerstone of his papacy so far, the Synod on the
Family, a two-year church study on providing better pastoral care for
families.
Tagle has impressed with his call for the church to be
more humble, to listen to ordinary Catholics and to look out for the
poor and suffering.He has voiced particular concern for the plight of Filipinos who must go abroad to find work to earn enough money to support their families back home. Such marriages, he says, can fail because of love and not hatred.
At the same time, Tagle has not shied from defending core church doctrine on contraception, helping lead the Philippine church's opposition to reproductive health legislation backed by President Benigno Aquino III. Congress, dominated by Aquino's allies, passed the legislation in 2012.
Tagle's appointment as Manila archbishop was initially met with surprise, given his participation in a controversial, progressive written history of the Second Vatican Council, the ground-breaking 1962-65 meetings that ushered the Catholic Church into the modern world.
Benedict
spent the better part of the past quarter-century insisting that
Vatican II was not a break with church tradition but rather a
continuation, whereas the so-called Bologna school which produced the
multi-volume Vatican II history viewed it much more as a rupture from
the past.
Tagle was a young
theologian when he wrote a key chapter in the series in 1999. He studied
at the Catholic University of America under the American editor of the
series, Father Joseph Komonchak.
Francis'
visit to the Philippines, with the theme "mercy and compassion," comes
after a difficult period of armed conflict and natural disasters,
including Typhoon Haiyan, which leveled entire villages and left
thousands of people dead and missing in November 2013 in central Leyte
province, where the pope will spend a day to console survivors.
"The
visit comes at that point when people would really be helped by a moral
and spiritual boost coming from someone who really cares," Tagle said
in an interview late Wednesday.Campos said the combined presence of Francis and Tagle during the pope's trip will be a doubly reassuring sight.
While
all the attention could help their evangelical work, the two church
leaders apparently don't relish the attention heaped on them.
"He doesn't want his humility extolled," Tagle spokeswoman Peachy Yamsuan said.
Tagle
said as much for the pope. After meeting Francis in November to discuss
the Philippine trip, Tagle said the pope told him people were "creating
their own Pope Francis."
"Who creates those stories? Who creates those legends?" Tagle quoted Francis as saying. "Don't focus on me. Focus on Jesus."
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