Pope Leo XIV has approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as dean of the College of Cardinals, the Vatican said on Friday 9 October, according to a Reuters report. Reuters described it as the first time an Asian cleric has been selected to lead the group of cardinals that will one day choose Leo’s successor.
Who Is the New Dean
Tagle, 69, is a former archbishop of Manila and has served as a senior Vatican official since 2020, Reuters reported. He leads the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelisation, which the agency described as effectively the Church’s missionary arm. Reuters said he was widely seen as a likely papal candidate in the May 2025 conclave that elected Leo after the death of Pope Francis, and that he was regarded as a close ally of Francis.
He replaces Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is 92 and retiring from the role, according to the report.
What the Dean Does
According to Reuters, the dean is considered “first among equals” among the Church’s highest-ranking clerics and is responsible for taking charge of the conclave process, held in the Sistine Chapel, once a pope dies or resigns. Under Church law, the agency said, the dean is elected by his peers and approved by the pope, and serves a five-year term that can be renewed once.
Reuters noted that the post has mostly been filled by Europeans. The late Beninese Cardinal Bernardin Gantin held it from 1993 to 2002. The agency also noted that Leo, 71, is relatively young for a pope and in good health.
Why It Matters
The deanship carries a defined role in the period after a pope’s death or resignation, so the choice of an Asian cardinal reflects the Church’s global makeup at the level of its senior leadership. It is also a reminder of how appointments within the College are shaped by both the cardinals who elect and the pope who approves.
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