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College of Cardinals may be open to Tagle as next pope, church law professor says
By EARL VICTOR ROSERO, GMA News
(Updated 1:08 p.m., March 1) - A Filipino priest had served for 12 years as leader of a Rome-based international congregation of about 6,000 priests and this, according to a canon law professor, could be a sign that the College of Cardinals may be open to having the Archbishop of Manila as the next pope.
The archbishop, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, is in Rome preparing to attend the conclave that will convene when Pope Benedict XVI steps down February 28. Tagle is one of several cardinals whom various Vatican observers say could be a candidate for pope.
In an interview with GMA News' Mike Enriquez on dzBB radio Thursday morning, Rev. Fr. Jerome Marquez, a canon law professor and vice provincial of the Society of the Divine Word Philippine Central Province, said Boholano priest Fr. Antonio Pernia, SVD was superior general of the Society of the Divine Word for two terms (2000-2012). The SVD has its generalate in Rome.
Marquez said Pernia's leadership of the SVD in Rome may indicate that an international community of priests like the College of Cardinals might also welcome having a Filipino like Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle as the next leader of the Catholic church.
For their part, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines' media director said comparing Tagle and Pernia is an “ocean and river” analogy.
“They are two different things... The one is about the leadership of the Catholic Church and the other is a leadership of a congregation. It's just like comparing the river and the ocean,” Msgr. Pedro Quitorio told GMA News Online in a phone interview on Friday.
Quitorio also cited “realistic” factors to consider such as the numbers in the European-dominated College of Cardinals, which will select the new Pope.
He said there are 61 Europeans, 16 Americans, 26 Italians, and “barely about 10 or 11 Asians.”
“The 61 or so European Cardinals are a few votes shy of the needed two-thirds majority; Asians just like Africans, are very minority in terms of numbers,” Quitorio said in a separate e-mail interview.
All the same, Quitorio said “with the Holy Spirit, anything is possible.”
“(B)eing a Filipino, I would be happiest at the thought of a Pinoy on top of the Vatican,” the CBCP director added.
International-based SVD
The SVD, an international congregation of missionary priests and brothers, is active in 56 countries worldwide, especially in South America and Africa where the Catholic church is experiencing growth in membership, Marquez said.
The new SVD superior general is German SVD priest Fr. Heinz Kuluke, who was superior of the SVD Philippine Southern Province from 2005 to 2011.
Marquez said Tagle was one of his professors when he was still a seminarian and he had served with the cardinal in Cavite province when Tagle was bishop of Imus.
Marquez added that Tagle's pastoral experience and ability to connect with and empathize with the poor would be among the qualities that may bode well for his possible candidacy for the papacy. The vice provincial is not alone in his analysis of Tagle's chances of becoming pope. Tom Heneghan, religion editor for Reuters, said that Tagle has a charisma that is reminiscent of that of Pope John Paul II. “He is also close to Pope Benedict after working with him at the International Theological Commission,” Heneghan added. Also, in an article posted in the CBCP website, Lingayen-Dagupan Emeritus Archbishop Oscar Cruz on Tuesday said that Tagle had an equal chance like any other cardinal. Also, Cruz did not see Tagle's age as a stumbling block. “When John Paul II was elected pope, he was 58 at that time.” Tagle, at 55, is the second youngest member of the College of Cardinals. “He [Tagle] is a very powerful fellow, humble and good. I haven’t seen him mad, he is always smiling, so I think he’s good,” Cruz concluded. — With a report from Marc Jayson Cayabyab/RSJ/DVM/KG, GMA News
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