Tagle believers say he may still become Pope someday

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle. AP FILE PHOTO

SAN PABLO CITY—People who personally knew Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle in his hometown, Imus City in Cavite, said they supported the cardinal although he was not elected Pope.

“Manalo o matalo (Win or lose), it’s God’s will,” said 69-year-old Vicky Ignacio, a worker at Imus Cathedral who had treated Tagle like her own son.

Tagle’s cousin, who refused to be named when interviewed in Imus, said Tagle might not be the Pope right now, “but has all the chances of becoming one someday, not only because he is young.”

“We’re sure he’ll make a good Pope. He stands firm on issues like the RH (reproductive health law) and the sex scandals, but was never confrontational. He is more ‘evangelical,’” the cousin said.

Relatives had wished Tagle would become a Pope but were afraid of not seeing him as often as they do now. “Just imagine, he’ll be attending to the whole world,” the cousin said.

Tagle’s newly gained “international stature” for being considered a “papabile” in the conclave that elected Argentine Jorge Cardinal Bergoglio as the new Pope bodes well for the Church in the Philippines, an activist priest said.

Even if he was not elected Pope, “Chito (Tagle’s nickname) has reached an international stature [that gives him] an opportunity to bring fresh air to the Philippine Catholic Church,” said Fr. Robert Reyes.

Reyes and Tagle were classmates at San Jose Seminary in Quezon City.

Reyes, interviewed a day before it was known that a new Pope had been elected, said Tagle had that “sense of humor that can heal broken  priests.”

“He will not condemn you, make you feel you’re such a bad person or you’re beyond redemption, but he will give you hope. That’s what we need right now,” said Reyes, known as the running priest.

He said he and Tagle might not be in agreement on certain issues, like the reproductive health law, but they did not “adversely” react to each other.

In one of the alumni homecomings in the seminary, Reyes remembered Tagle as saying: “Robert and I are quite different. I’m the flying bishop, most of  the time in my luggage flying from one meeting to another, while Robert keeps running.”

Reyes earned the  “running priest” moniker because he used running events to dramatize his political and environmental advocacies.

The priest said Tagle’s return from Vatican City would be an opportunity for the prelate to lift the morale of Filipino Catholics.

The Catholic Church is a “broken Church” faced with several abuse scandals and cases of priests violating their vows of celibacy, said Reyes.

“It’s a wounded and a wounding Church,” he said.

As a young boy, Tagle used to tag along with his mother when she would hear Mass at  Our Lady of the Pillar Cathedral in Imus.

Relatives would marvel at the young boy’s ability to recite the rosary at the age of 3.

“He rarely played with us because he preferred staying at home and reading books,” said the cousin, who asked not to be identified.

He doesn’t remember if Chito had a crush on a girl in his hometown.

Born in Manila on June 21, 1957, Tagle is one of  two sons of Manuel and Milagros Tagle. His younger brother, Manuel Jr. or Nonoy, has migrated to the United States.

The people who have known him when he was growing up were not entirely surprised when Tagle decided to enter the priesthood.

On July 18, 1981, Tagle was ordained at San Jose Seminary in Quezon City. He became the bishop of Imus on Dec. 12, 2001, and was installed archbishop of Manila exactly 10 years later. Tagle was elevated to the College of Cardinals on Nov. 24, 2012.

Although religious as a child, Tagle never planned to become a priest until he became “victim” of a “trick” that led him to priesthood.

He wanted to go to Ateneo de Manila University but his parents were worried about the cost of enrolling in the Jesuit institution and living in a boarding house, said Fr. Catalino Arevalo, SJ, the “dean” of Filipino theologians and a friend of Tagle.

A priest who had great affection for Tagle tricked him into taking the entrance exam for  Jesuit-run San Jose Seminary in Quezon City instead of taking the entrance exam for Ateneo, Arevalo narrated.

Tagle passed the exam with very high marks, got a scholarship and then entered the seminary to try it and see,  Arevalo added.

Today, Tagle, the second-youngest member of the College of Cardinals, has been dubbed the “Great Asian Hope,” “Rising Star” and “Golden Child.”

The 55-year-old cardinal from a working-class family has a reputation across the country as a humble man.

He exemplified humility even when he was pursuing his graduate studies. Tagle had to take on a menial job when his scholarship fund dried up while he was studying in the United States in the early 1990s.

He ran out of funds when Fr. Carl Peter, a prominent American theologian who obtained the scholarship for him, died during his last year of graduate studies at Catholic University of America in Washington.

According to Arevalo, he got a job as an assistant at the university’s library but because Tagle did not introduce himself as a priest, he was assigned to do the “dirty work.”

Tagle is also one of the country’s media-savvy prelates. He started hosting a Sunday gospel show on TV a few years ago where he preached and answered questions. He has a Facebook page with more than 120,000 followers.

Tagle, however, remained a “low-key”  figure even after his name was mentioned as one of those who could be Pope, following the resignation from the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI last month.

“Even when he was already a bishop, we would still see him walk alone to church, always carrying a leather bag,” said his cousin.

He said he respected the family’s request to keep a low profile during the papal conclave, as his “Kuya” Chito never wanted the fanfare and publicity in the first place.

Tagle grew up in his parent’s two-story house in Poblacion 1-C, within walking distance to the cathedral. At the back of the main house, the Tagle couple built houses for each of their sons where they stayed whenever they came home to visit.

On Tuesday, the house whose front yard Manuel Sr. swept every morning and which Milagros kept open to people every Christmas Day was closed to visitors. Only the housekeeper, Delia, was left to watch over the house when the couple left for Vatican City on Friday.

Ignacio, who owns a beauty salon across from the Tagle home, is a member of  Apostolado ng Panalangin, a religious organization,  giving her the opportunity to work with Tagle for a long time.

She has kept the pictures, as well as newsletters and magazines that featured Tagle, including one with the cardinal’s autograph.

Ignacio said Tagle, who calls her “Ti Vicky,” short for Auntie Vicky, was like a son to her. She said Tagle grew into a fine man who never lost his sense of humor.

When Tagle celebrated his 50th birthday, she said she gave him a kiss. “Then he told me,  ‘now I feel like a Sto. Niño,’” she said.

Ignacio said Tagle always had the “charisma that encourages people to hear Mass and understand the homily.” (With a report from Inquirer Research)