Philippine cardinal among papal candidates
Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is among the candidates being considered to replace Pope Benedict XVI, who was scheduled to formalise his resignation yesterday.
Tagle is the current archbishop of Manila and was appointed last year as the Catholic Church’s second youngest cardinal. He is the only contender from Asia.
In an Agence France-Presse report from the Vatican, Tagle was included in the list of top contenders who are considered pontiff material, or “papabile”. The 55-year-old is tipped as an outsider to watch for his dynamism, charisma and stellar rise within the Church so far. His relative youth stands against him, but he is very popular in Asia and has worked closely with Benedict.
The successor to Benedict XVI will be elected by a conclave in the Sistine Chapel next month, where 115 cardinals from around the world are expected.
The other contenders to become the next head of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics include Angelo Scola (Italy), Peter Erdo (Hungary), Christoph Schoenborn (Austria), Marc Ouellet (Canada), Timothy Dolan (USA), Peter Turkson (Ghana), Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (Congo), John Onaiyekan (Nigeria) and Odilo Scherer (Brazil).
