The ‘Asian Francis'

The Star

27-04-2025

PREDICT who the next pope will be at your peril.
An old Italian saying warns against putting faith or money in any presumed front-runner ahead of the conclave, the closed-door gathering of cardinals that picks the pontiff.
It cautions further that 'He who enters a conclave as a pope, leaves it as a cardinal.'
Nevertheless, among the handful of cardinals cited by Reuters who are being talked about as 'papabili' or 'electable' is Cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, who is often called the 'Asian Francis' because of his similar commitment to social justice. On paper, the 67-year-old Tagle, who generally prefers to be called by his nickname 'Chito,' seems to have all the boxes ticked to qualify him to be a pope.
He has had decades of pastoral experience since his ordination to the priesthood in 1982. He then gained administrative experience, first as bishop of Imus and then as archbishop of Manila. Pope Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in 2012.
Vatican experience
In a move seen by some as a strategy by Francis to give Tagle some Vatican experience, the Pope in 2019 transferred him from Manila and appointed him head of the Church's missionary arm, formally known as the Dicastery for Evangelization.
He comes from what some called 'Asia's Catholic lung,' because the Philippines has the region's largest Catholic population. His mother was an ethnic Chinese-Filipino. He speaks fluent Italian and English.
Between 2015 and 2022, he was the top leader of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of more than 160 Catholic relief, social service and development organizations around the world.
In 2022, Pope Francis fired its entire leadership following accusations of bullying and humiliation of employees, and appointed a commissioner to run it.
Tagle, who was also removed from his role, had been nominally president but was not involved in the day-to-day operations, which were overseen by a lay director general.
Announcing the Pope's dramatic decision, Tagle told a meeting of the confederation that the changes were a moment for 'facing our failures.' It remains to be seen how the saga will impact Tagle's chances at the papacy.
If elected, he would be the first pontiff from Asia.
The real 'Conclave'
As the Vatican prepares for the secret meeting of cardinals who will pick a successor to Pope Francis, forget – to some extent – what you may have learned from Conclave , last year's hit movie depicting high-level power games and backstabbing among the red-robed clerics.
The conclave of the so-called Princes of the Church that will elect a new pope is expected to start some time between May 6 and May 11. It will follow Francis' funeral on Saturday and wider consultations among cardinals, known as general congregations.
According to Reuters, the film, which won an Oscar in March for best adapted screenplay, is a faithful representation in terms of costumes and staging, but the blatant scheming and closing plot twist – which this article will not spoil – are too much, Church experts say.
'Let's face it: Conclave , which takes us to the heart of one of the most mysterious and secret events in the world, is a highly entertaining film, especially for an easygoing American audience,' the Italian bishops' newspaper, Avvenire , wrote in a December review.
Involuntary parodies
'But it is impossible not to smile at certain characters or situations that, especially in the eyes of Italian viewers, risk resembling involuntary parodies,' it added.
US Cardinal Sean O'Malley was scathing, saying in a February entry on his blog that the business of electing a pope is not 'some sort of scene of political backroom plotting of how to get your candidate elected.'
O'Malley, a Franciscan friar who took part in the 2013 conclave that elected Francis, wrote:
'Throughout the process, we had a very acute awareness that millions of Catholics around the world were praying for us so that the Holy Spirit would guide us in our deliberations.'
The word 'conclave' comes from the Latin 'cum clave', referring to the Medieval practice of locking cardinals up in a room until they make a decision on a new pope. That is still essentially how it works today.
Broke confidentiality
Cardinals gathered inside the Sistine Chapel are banned from communicating with the outside world – no phones, television or internet – and are supposed to keep quiet about the election afterward. But details, inevitably, filter through.
Francis himself, in an interview book published last year, broke the confidentiality rule, and did admit there were some machinations.
'Cardinals swear not to reveal what happens in the conclave, but popes have a licence to tell it,' he told Spanish journalist Javier Martinez-Brocal.
He said he was 'used' in a failed attempt to block Benedict XVI, the 2005 front-runner, with 40 out of 115 votes converging on him as cardinals behind the maneuver hoped this would pave the way for the emergence of another candidate.
Benedict was duly elected, Francis said, after he told one of the would-be schemers: 'Don't fool me with this candidacy, because right now I'm going to say I'm not going to accept, OK? Leave me out.'
Francis said he personally voted for Benedict because the Church needed a 'transition pope' after the long papacy of John Paul II. In 2013, Francis came up as a surprise candidate, after impressing peers with a speech on the need for church reform.
This time around, there is no clear front-runner, although British bookmakers have named reformer Tagle and Pietro Parolin, a compromise choice from Italy, as early favorites in the race.
Robert Harris, author of the book on which the film Conclave is based, told The Boston Globe this week that he had approached the conclave 'purely from a secular point of view of someone who is interested in institutions, how they work, and the power plays within them.'
Most wonderful drama
'These powerful figures are locked away in one of the most extraordinary artistic gems of the Renaissance. They're not allowed to speak to the outside world and they have to stay there for days until they get a two-thirds majority, and that is just the most wonderful drama in itself,' said Harris.
The film's director Edward Berger also felt that while the film is set in the Vatican, it could be about the power games that take place wherever there is a top job to fill.
'And whenever that power vacuum exists, there's going to be people striving for it. There's going to be people fighting for it and stabbing each other in the back and trying to manipulate their way into this power,' he said.
Regardless of how much the book and film are fiction, interest in the story surged after Francis died last Monday. — Reuters/Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN