Call Me „Chito“
Papabile Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67
5354 / Claude Cueni / April 25, 2025
If Catholic youth had the right to vote, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, would probably win the papal election. On Facebook, he boasts more than 600,000 followers. Still, that number needs to be put in perspective, considering the Philippines has a population of about 110 million, and Filipinos show great enthusiasm for their compatriots on the global stage. The other 136 cardinals eligible to vote remain largely invisible on social media. They don’t seek closeness to the faithful. But the next pope won’t be chosen by the youth — only by cardinals under the age of 80.
During his tenure (2013–2025), Pope Francis appointed a total of 163 new cardinals; some have since passed away or aged out. Today, 149 are still alive, but only 107 can cast a vote in the 2025 conclave. Francis has clearly set the stage for a successor who will continue his vision. His preferred candidate is his protégé, Luis Antonio Tagle. The former Archbishop of Manila has been part of the pope’s inner circle for years and is often called the „Francis of Asia“ because he shares many of the same views: openness toward homosexuality but a firm stance against government-sponsored family planning and private contraception.
Tagle is a seasoned figure. As head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, he seems like the perfect candidate — especially since there’s not much left to win in Europe. Both Germany and France have already sold or repurposed over 1,000 churches. The rise of religiously unaffiliated people continues, and in Switzerland, they are now the largest group. Tagle believes Christian migrants will reverse this trend, but the numbers tell a different story: church departures are increasing despite high levels of migration, largely because many immigrants come from predominantly Muslim countries like Turkey, Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Syria. The Catholic Church’s biggest threat isn’t the next generation of non-believers — it’s the steady Islamization of the West.
Luis Tagle is an optimist. It’s in the Filipino DNA. Wherever he appears, the Filipino sun seems to shine; he radiates empathy, shows emotion, and sometimes even breaks into tears in public. He always greets people with a warm smile. Politeness, harmony, and family are core values for Filipinos. Tagle is the complete opposite of the cerebral Benedict XVI — a kind of Catholic Klaus Schwab — who once said, „The Christian believer is a simple person. Therefore, it is the bishops’ task to protect the faith of these little people from the influence of intellectuals.“ (December 31, 1979 / quoted in John L. Allen’s Joseph Ratzinger, Düsseldorf 2002). You’d never hear something like that from Tagle. He stands alongside the poor — not above them. He doesn’t care much for titles, either: „Call me Chito.“
I first came across him in 2017 while covering Rodrigo Duterte and stumbled upon the legendary BBC interview Hard Talk with Stephen Sackur. When asked if he knew he was already considered papabile (papal material) in Rome, the then-Archbishop of Manila burst into hearty laughter and joked, „I publicly confess: I can’t even manage my own life — how could I manage a global community?“ His diocese is considered one of the wealthiest in the world. When asked about it, he appeared baffled, saying the billions in assets had „simply accumulated“ over the centuries. Simply?
The foundation was laid in 1565 when Spanish colonizers named the islands „the Philippines“ in honor of King Philip. With the arrival of the „men of iron,“ the systematic missionizing of the archipelago began. Since only missionaries dared venture into the unknown wilderness and learn the local dialects, they became the ideal tax collectors for the Spanish crown.
Since then, the Church in the Philippines has become one of the country’s largest landowners. It owns a massive media empire with incredible reach, banks, major stakes in corporations, and remains the most influential non-governmental provider of education and one of the biggest players in social services.
In 2019, Pope Francis brought Luis Tagle to Rome and appointed him Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Just four years later, Francis made him a member of the Section for Fundamental Questions regarding Evangelization around the world. Tagle quickly became the pope’s closest confidant — and his frequent travel companion.
Will Luis Antonio Tagle become the next pope — Francis II? Can he handle finances? Does he have the management skills required?
„There’s a saying: Whoever goes into the conclave as papabile comes out a cardinal,“ goes the old joke. But in the last hundred years, favorites have often been elected: Pius XII (1939), Paul VI (1963), Benedict XVI (2005) — and others. Maybe Luis Antonio Tagle will join their ranks.
His only real „disadvantage“ is his relatively youthful age of 67. If Tagle manages to sidestep the Vatican’s deep-state machinery during his reign, the Curia could be stuck with him for another quarter-century.
Claude Cueni is a novelist living in Basel. Starting May 1, the Basel gallery Sarasin Art will exhibit his new dioramas. At the same time, the illustrated book Small Worlds Volume II will be published by Edition Königstuhl.
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