By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO * ALLYSA NIEVERA
Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle was promoted to cardinal-bishop by Pope Francis last Friday.
According to a Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines News post, cardinal bishop is the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.
A May 1 news report by Elise Ann Allen on Catholic news website Crux said a cardinal bishop is described as the highest title in the Catholic Church, apart from Pope.
Along with Tagle, Italian Cardinal Benjamin Stella was also promoted to cardinal-bishop, Allen wrote.
She added that Stella and Tagle have been considered “Francis men” for a long time and the promotions are a clear sign of the Pope’s approval of them.
The College of Cardinals is structured in three ranks: Cardinal deacons, cardinal priests, and cardinal bishops.
Cardinal bishops hold jurisdiction over a church in a suburb of Rome, while working in departments of the Roman Curia, the central administration of the church.
Cardinal deacons, often called “the Pope’s Cabinet,” also work full-time in the Curia, while cardinal-priests are those working in dioceses all over the world.
It is also from the ranks of cardinal bishops that the Dean of College of Cardinals is elected. The dean presides at the conclave in the case of “sede vacante,” a period when there is no Pope.
The dean also represents the Holy See during the sede vacante, and asks the Pope-elect if he accepts the role.
There are customarily six cardinal bishops from the Latin Church, until Pope Francis broke the tradition and appointed more of them.
With his elevation to cardinal bishop, the 62-year-old Tagle now joins the ranks of 13 other cardinal bishops – 10 from the Latin Church and three cardinal patriarchs from the Oriental rites.
Allen wrote: “Traditionally, cardinal bishops are titular bishops of one of the seven ‘suburbicarian dioceses’ in the area surrounding Rome.
“In the May 1 announcement, Stella was assigned the suburbicarian Church of Porto-Santa Rufina, whereas Tagle was named a cardinal bishop without actually being named to one of the ‘suburbicarian’ sees, which required special papal permission.”
Last December, Pope Francis appointed Tagle the Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, a major Vatican post.
Tagle left his position as Archbishop of Manila in February this year to take up his new post in Rome.
Tagle has been described as a “papabile,” after Vatican observers were said to have noted that he has the potential to be a candidate for Pope someday. It was also said that his current position gives him experience in the Holy See’s operations.
