Tagle on new post: Prefect, not perfect
“I am the prefect but I am not perfect.”
So declared former Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to his staff and colleagues as he assumed his new post at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Vatican on Wednesday. Tagle left Manila for Rome on Sunday.
According to Fr. Reginald Malicdem, Tagle’s former personal secretary and chancellor at the Archdiocese of Manila who accompanied him to Rome, all of Tagle’s “collaborators” gathered to welcome him.
“I came here as a student in order to learn from you, my masters and teachers. I bring you all the greetings and affections from Asia and especially from the Philippines and Manila,” Malicdem quoted Tagle as saying.
Tagle admitted that he did not study in Rome and that he learned and spoke “a unique Italian” of his own.
Malicdem also shared some photos of Tagle in his new office, including one where the cardinal was seen looking out his window which overlooks the famous Column of the Immaculate Conception near the Spanish Steps.
“This will surely remind him of the Manila Cathedral and the Archdiocese of Manila,” Malicdem added of Tagle.
‘Overwhelmed’
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo has asked the faithful to pray for him as he takes on the role as apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila.“Pray for me,” Pabillo said, adding that he was still “overwhelmed” by his appointment.
Pope Francis had appointed Pabillo to the post following Tagle’s departure for the Vatican, leaving a sede vacante.
An apostolic administrator is appointed by the Pope until a new bishop or archbishop is formally appointed to a diocese or archdiocese. He generally has the same function and power as that of an archbishop, with certain limitations.
“I want to thank and also ask prayers from everyone. Pray not only for me but for our archdiocese. Maybe our preparation for a new archbishop is also a way of giving importance to our local church here at the Archdiocese of Manila,” Pabillo said in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.
