"There is no doubt that Cardinal Tagle is currently one of the most prominent figures in the Catholic Church in Asia today."
"There is no doubt that Cardinal Tagle is currently one of the most prominent figures in the Catholic Church in Asia today."
Continued from last week
This means that Cardinal Tagle will have to play a very important role, especially in carrying out Pope Francis’ vision for the Church of today. In fact, it could be said that the decision to bring Cardinal Tagle to Rome could be his most important appointment made so far. By appointing him to the highest level of decision-making in the Church, Cardinal Tagle will definitely have a positive impact both on the papacy of Francis and on the Church in Asia, Africa and Oceania.
Two years ago, I was blessed to have a close encounter with Cardinal Tagle, when he visited Tacloban to ordain Bishop Rex Ramirez of Naval. The cracks on the runway caused a plane from Manila to get stuck when it hit the soft portion of the runway, forcing the total shutdown of the airport, just when the visiting bishops were about to board for their return flights. Prior to his Tacloban trip, Cardinal Tagle presided over the feast of the Nazareno at the Quirino Grandstand and he barely had any chance to rest or sleep. But despite being awake for more than 24 hours, although clearly exhausted, Cardinal Tagle patiently waited for his delayed flight and cheerfully conversed with us for more than four hours. Even when the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Gabrielle Caccia, invited him to join the other bishops, he preferred to continue talking to the lay staff and seminarians present. Not for an instance did he show his displeasure or discomfort, instead it was he who tried to assure his already worried hosts that he was well and okay.
The life and ministry of Cardinal Tagle has shown that the work of evangelization is something that is close to his heart. Not only is it something he is passionate about, it is task that he is adept at. There is no doubt that given his credentials and experience, Pope Francis saw in him—an enthusiasm to bring the faithful to an encounter with Jesus. As Cardinal Tagle himself puts it: “A personal encounter with Jesus Christ is necessary because there is no mission, no proclamation of the Gospel without an encounter with Jesus who is the Gospel.” Mission, evangelization and dialogue have been recurrent themes in Cardinal Tagle’s teaching, preaching and public speaking, and with his appointment, the Pope has reaffirmed his intention to put the Church on a permanent state of mission.
Cardinal Tagle, however, is not the first Filipino to be appointed to the Roman Curia. That honor belongs to the late Cardinal Jose Tomas Sanchez, who served in the Vatican for 40 years, from Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in 1985, and as Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy in 1991 until his retirement in 1996. Still, the appointment of Cardinal Tagle is exceptional, because it solidifies the growing shift from a Eurocentric attitude within the Church toward a more open recognition that much of its growth and resources now come from its fastest-growing regions of Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
There is no doubt that Cardinal Tagle is currently one of the most prominent figures in the Catholic Church in Asia today. His appointment to Rome, more importantly, reaffirms the strength and dynamism that the Filipino Church is called to offer at the service of the universal Church. Thus, his appointment is an immense blessing to the Church in the Philippines, especially at a time when our country is preparing to celebrate 500 years of the arrival of Christianity to our shores.
While reading the news of his appointment to the Vatican post, Cardinal Tagle’s own prophetic words, in a message to Pope Francis at the close of the papal mass at Luneta, come into my mind, “Every Filipino wants to go with you. Don’t be afraid. Every Filipino wants to go with you – not to Rome – but to the peripheries. We want to go with you to the shanties, to the prison cells, to hospitals, to the world of politics, finance, arts, the sciences, culture, education, and social communication. We will go to those worlds with you to bring the light of Christ. Here in this place of new beginnings, please, Holy Father, send us as your missionaries of light. Send us.”
Those words, Pope Francis undoubtedly remembered.