Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle

The journey of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to to the Vatican’s inner circles started in 2019, when he was promoted to head the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, a department within the Roman Curia, the Vatican’s administrative body. The following year, Pope Francis named Tagle to the Order of Bishops, making Tagle the first Asian to hold the rank. Another vital promotion came a year later when the cardinal was appointed member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, the Vatican's financial arm that manages its vast funds. With other positions apart from these mentioned, Cardinal Tagle is the most eminent clergyman to emerge from Philippine shores.

Cardinal Tagle is a gifted communicator who spreads the word across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Though a non-supporter of the Philippines’ Reproductive Health Law, the cardinal earned respect for initiating attempts to correct the Catholic Church’s biases, including those against the LGBQT+ community, and against divorced and remarried Catholics.

In 2024, Cardinal Tagle was appointed Pope Francis’ Special Envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress held in Indianapolis, Indiana, from July 17 to July 21. Archbishop Timothy P Broglio, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, described Cardinal Tagle’s appointment as “a gift to the Eucharistic Congress.”