By Ferdinand Patinio | Philippine News Agency
An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is calling on the public to refrain from publicly promoting Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle to be the next head of the Roman Catholic Church following Pope Francis’ death.
According to Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, the issue on who will be the next pontiff would be decided by the cardinal-electors in the upcoming conclave.
“We leave it to the cardinal-electors to decide who will succeed Pope Francis. It’s not prudent for the people to publicly push for Cardinal Tagle as the next pope since it may be misconstrued that the conclave can be influenced by outside forces if and when Cardinal Tagle indeed becomes the next pontiff,” Secillano said in a message to Church-run Radyo Veritas on Wednesday.
He noted that it is important for the cardinal-electors to be free and independent in choosing the successor of Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Monday due to a stroke and irreversible heart failure.
“The independence of the electors should be respected, and the least that we can do is to pray for Cardinal Tagle and the rest of the cardinal-electors,” Secillano said.
The conclave is the sacred meeting of cardinals of the Catholic Church to elect a new pope when the previous one dies or resigns. It is made up of cardinal electors who are under 80 years old on the day of the pope’s death.
The Church currently has 135 cardinal-electors, including three Philippine cardinals: Cardinal Tagle, former archbishop of Manila and current member of the Roman Curia at the Vatican; Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David, president of the CBCP; and Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula.
At present, the Catholic Church is focused on paying tribute to the late Pope, while the cardinals are expected to meet to set the date of the conclave.
Pope remembered
Meanwhile, Dagupan-Lingayen Archbishop Socrates Villegas joined those sharing fond memories of Pope Francis.
In a statement, Villegas recalled receiving personal encouragement from the late Holy Father amid the threats and ridicule he faced for his strong opposition to extrajudicial killings (EJKs) during the Duterte administration.
According to the prelate, Pope Francis urged him to remain steadfast in guiding his flock through his pastoral letters despite mounting pressure from the government.
“When I was mocked and ridiculed and threatened by government authorities in my stand against the extrajudicial killings, he assured me and encouraged me personally in Rome to carry on my task of guiding the flock through my pastoral letters,” said Villegas, one of the most outspoken voices in the Catholic hierarchy during the Duterte administration.
As president of the CBCP in 2017 and as Dagupan-Lingayen archbishop, Villegas issued several strongly worded statements condemning the rampant EJKs.
In one of his pastoral letters, he called on churches to ring their bells for 40 nights as a sign of mourning and protest.
“The relentless and bloody campaign against drugs that shows no sign of abating impels us, your bishops, to declare: In the name of God, stop the killings!” Villegas said in the letter.
The letter drew sharp criticism from then Police Chief and now Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who dismissed the bishops’ stance and remarked that he could “communicate with God without passing through them.”
