BY ANALOU DE VERA
The faithful were asked to offer prayers for the speedy recovery of former Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle after it was reported that he tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) last Friday night.
“Let’s join together our hands in prayers to our Almighty God for our beloved Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle for his swift recovery,” Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos told Church-run Radio Veritas on Saturday.
“We humbly beg our dear God to help, to heal our Cardinal, as we offer Holy Masses for him,” added Santos.
The Archdiocese of Manila also echoed the same call for Tagle.
“Let us join in prayers for our dear Cardinal Chito for his protection, safety, and quick recovery,” it said.
Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, who is also the current acting president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), asked all bishops to include Tagle in their Mass intentions.
“May I ask you to please have him included in all your daily Mass intentions until he recovers fully from COVID-19 so that he can resume his important ministry for the universal Church,” said David through a circular.
The current health situation of Tagle was confirmed by the Holy See Press Office which was published in the Vatican News website on Friday night.
“Cardinal Tagle actually tested positive for COVID-19 with a pharyngeal swab carried out yesterday (Thursday, September 11) on his arrival in Manila,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office as quoted by the Vatican News.
Cardinal Tagle “does not have any symptoms and will remain in mandatory self-quarantine in the Philippines, where he is located. In the meantime, necessary checks are being carried out among those who have come into contact with His Eminence in recent days,” added Bruni.
The Vatican News said that Tagle underwent a swab test in Rome last Monday, September 7, and yielded a negative result.
The CBCP News reported that the 63-year-old cardinal arrived in Manila on Thursday, September 10.
David said that Tagle went to Manila “for a brief late summer break.”
“Cardinal Chito came home also to visit his elderly parents in Imus, Cavite. Now, he is prevented from doing so because he has to stay in isolation in the next 14 days,” added David.
The CBCP News also said that Tagle’s “last meeting with Pope Francis in a private audience was August 29.”
Tagle served as the Archbishop of Manila since 2011 before he was appointed as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the Vatican last year. His appointment was announced by Pope Francis on December 8, 2019.
Tagle then left Manila last February to assume his new post.
