By Roy Lagarde
May 1, 2020
Manila, Philippines
Pope Francis on Friday named Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as “cardinal bishop”, the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.
Tagle, 62, joins the ranks of 13 other cardinal bishops — 10 of them are from the Latin Church and three cardinal patriarchs from the Oriental Rites.
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.
The former Manila archbishop left the Philippines in February to assume as prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Since his elevation as cardinal, he was also given the church of St. Felix of Cantalice in the Centocelle as his “titular church”.
Source: www.cbcpnews.net
