Cardinal Tagle to resume duties after Cardinal-Bishop appointment

The appointment of the first Filipino Cardinal-Bishop, former Archbishop of Manila, Luis Antonio Gokim Cardinal Tagle, has become a trending topic in Twitter and other social media platforms.

Tagle is also the only Asian among the latest list of Cardinal-Bishops.

A source explained to GMA News Online that the College of Cardinals in its organizational structure are of three orders, namely the bishops, priests and deacons.

There used to be only eight cardinal- bishops of the suburbicarian dioceses, which are Roman Catholic dioceses located in the vicinity of Rome.

This was later expanded by Pope Francis to include members of the Curia: the Secretary of State and prefects of the congregations of bishops, oriental churches, and propagation of faith or evangelization of the people.

The present active Cardinal-Bishops are:

• Giovanni Cardinal Battista Re (Italy) - the incumbent Dean of College of Cardinals
• Leonardo Cardinal Sandri (Argentina) - College of Cardinals Vice Dean, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches
• Angelo Cardinal Sodano Albano (Italy) - Dean emeritus of the College of Cardinals
• Francis Cardinal Arinze Velletri (Nigeria) - Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments
• Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Cardinal Bertone, S.D.B. (Italy) - Secretary Emeritus of the Secretariat of State
• José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, C.M.F. (Portugal) - Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
• Pietro Cardinal Parolin (Italy) - Secretary of State
• Marc Armand Cardinal Ouellet, P.S.S. (Canada) - Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops
• Fernando Cardinal Filoni (Italy) - Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

As per Vatican News, the new Cardinal-Bishops are: 

• Beniamino Cardinal Stella Porto (Italy) - Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy
• Luis Antonio Gokim Cardinal Tagle (Philippines) - Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples

The appointment of Tagle as Cardinal-Bishop was expected as head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

His predecessor, Cardinal Filoni was also appointed Cardinal-Bishop.

He is the only Asian among the active Cardinal-Bishops and the youngest at 62 years old. Cardinal Parolin is a few years older at 65.

Role and responsibilities

All cardinals have the responsibility to assist the Pope and to elect his successor.

As to who among the cardinals is papabile or worthy of being or eligible to be pope, all cardinals are papabile.

Cardinals who reach the age of 80 before the day the Holy See becomes vacant may not vote in a conclave. Among the active Cardinal-Bishops, only six out of 11 can still vote in a conclave.

But as a point of distinction, Cardinal-Bishops are placed in the precedence during ceremonies.

In Papal masses, when they concelebrate with the Pope, they walk in procession in front of Pope Francis.

Among the reforms of Pope Francis is the appointment of Dean of the College of Cardinals.

It used to be the task of the Pope to choose. The new policy entails that Tagle is eligible to vote for and be a possible candidate to the post of Dean of the College of Cardinals.

Cardinal Tagle - like all the cardinal-bishops - is expected to act in behalf of the Pope, to present to the Pope the needs and concerns under his competence as Prefect of the Evangelization of Peoples. Until 1982 the congregation was known as "The Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith or Propaganda Fide."

According to the Vatican website, "The task of the Congregation has always been the transmission and dissemination of the faith throughout the whole world.  It was given the specific responsibility of coordinating and guiding all the Church's diverse missionary efforts and initiatives.  These include: the promotion and the formation of the clergy and of local hierarchies, encouraging new missionary institutes, and providing material assistance for the missionary activity of the Church."

The Congregation is in charge of handling mission and mission territories including Latin America.

Under that jurisdiction, the department has a section that deals with financial assistance to this poor mission areas. So they distribute subsidies for education, pastoral program, for catechists, for seminaries and seminarians, for parishes, among others.

The collection of the dioceses all throughout the world for holy infants, Peter's Pence collection, and World Mission Sunday will be all sent to the congregation which will be distributed to the areas under mission.

All of the reports and assistances are usually channeled through the apostolic nunciatures. —KG, GMA News