Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is the Philippine’s “gift” to the universal Church, the head of the Catholic hierarchy said recently as they bid goodbye to the outgoing Manila archbishop.
CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles, while addressing the farewell ceremony, said that there are more reasons to be joyful than to be sad on Tagle’s new mission.
“We would like to tell the world that he is the gift of the Filipinos to the universal Church and to Rome,” he said, drawing applause from other bishops.
“We are sad, but I think that you will agree with me that one of the wonderful gifts that the Church in the Philippines is in the person of Cardinal Chito,” Valles said.
The Davao archbishop also regarded the cardinal as the country’s “national flag carrier” who carries the faith of Filipinos to the world.
“It is our prayer that the Lord will continue to bless you, and keep you joyful in your difficult task,” he said.
The farewell dinner was held as more than 90 bishops from all over the country gathered for their plenary assembly in Manila over the weekend.
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, CBCP vice president, was also all praises to the cardinal.
The two were together in San Jose Seminary, although Tagle was one year ahead of David.
The bishop recalled that one of the things they always look forward to as students of philosophy was the review classes facilitated by Tagle “because he could simplify complicated thoughts.”
“That was the rare gift of Cardinal Chito,” David said, calling Tagle by his nickname. “His brightness seemed to brighten other people.”
For his part, the cardinal admitted that his mind and heart was still having confusion now that he will leave the country for a new mission.
One time, Tagle shared that he was in a chapel to “present this dilemma” but, in the end, “the clincher is where can you follow Jesus—the poor, the crucified.”
“It pointed me to that path,” he said. “So I really cried and cried there in the chapel, but there was peace that the cross was the main criteria in the end.”
At one part of the gathering, the bishops surrounded the cardinal and sung “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
On Monday, several bishops, priests, nuns and laypeople prayed over Tagle as he prepares to leave for his new Vatican post.
During the Thanksgiving Mass at the Manila Cathedral, the cardinal knelt before the congregation as they raised their hands toward him while praying.
In December 2019, Pope Francis appointed Tagle as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a powerful department at the Roman Curia.
The Congregation’s task is the transmission and dissemination of the faith throughout the whole world, according to Vatican.va Web page.
“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,” it added.
Thus, the CEP became the ordinary, and exclusive, instrument of the Holy Father and of the Holy See, in its exercise of jurisdiction over all of the Church’s missions and over missionary cooperation, it said.
The CEP was established by Pope Gregory XV with the publication of the Papal Bull Inscrutabili Divinae Providnetiae on June 22, 1622. Roy Lagarde/CBCPNews and Lyn Resurreccion
Image credits: Roy Lagarde