CNN analyst sees Manila archbishop a ‘papal contender’
MANILA, Philippines—Habemus papam (We have a pope)?
He has not even been officially installed, but new Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle has already been tagged as a “papal contender” by a respected international Vatican watcher.
Writing in his blog, CNN Senior Vatican analyst John Allen Jr. tagged the 54-year-old prelate as a “new papal contender,” describing Tagle as “a rising star in the Asian Church” and his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI deserved “to be on the global Catholic radar screen.”
“The big news from the Philippines has been the October 13 appointment of Luis Antonio Tagle as the new Archbishop of Manila, putting him in line to become a cardinal the next time Benedict XVI hosts a consistory,” Allen said in his blog at the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) website.
“Youthfulness aside, a striking number of people who know Tagle believe that this is a guy who, one day, could be pope,” Allen said.
“Even if that doesn’t pan out, Tagle is destined to be an important face and voice for the burgeoning Catholic population in Asia and the entire developing world, and that makes him someone worth getting to know,” he added.
Allen notes that Tagle was known for his humility, humor, warmth, simplicity, ability to explain complex theological ideas in layman’s terms, while not being afraid to raise questions about controversial church issues.
“Although a loyal churchman, Tagle is unafraid to raise tough questions (at the 2005 synod, he pointedly said the church must confront the priest shortage, which struck some as a way of hinting at flexibility on celibacy) or to challenge what he considers abuses (some of the toughest language you’ll ever find denouncing clerical arrogance and privilege is in his writings),” Allen said.
During that 2005 synod of bishops in Rome, Tagle raised his concerns about the shortage of priests during Vatican’s own press conference where he was one of the presenters.
“Theologically and politically, Tagle comes off as balanced. He’s taken strong positions against a proposed ‘Reproductive Health’ bill in the Philippines, which includes promotion of birth control. Yet his towering social concern is defense of the poor, and he’s also got a strong environmental streak,” Allen said.
He described Tagle as a “gifted communicator, making him a highly sought-after speaker and media personality.”
“He drew rave reviews for his performance at a 2008 International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, where observers say he brought an entire stadium to tears,” Allen said.
“Vatican-watchers also rated him among the most impressive contributors to both the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist and the 2008 Synod on the Word of God. He’s also a very 21st century prelate—he hosts a program on YouTube and he’s got his own Facebook page,” he added.
Allen has noted that while Tagle, at 54, is “in church terms…still a kid,” the new shepherd of Manila’s 2.7 million Catholics was already seen as “a rising star in the Asian Church.”
“The story goes that back in the mid-1990s, when then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger introduced Tagle to Pope John Paul II as a new member of the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, Ratzinger jokingly assured the pope that the youthful-seeming Filipino had, in fact, received his first communion,” Allen said.
“(After theological studies abroad, Tagle) quickly came to be seen as a rising star in the Asian church, explaining his appointment in 1997 to the Vatican’s main doctrinal advisory body,” he added.
Fr. Joseph Komonchak, one of the leading Catholic theologians in the US and Tagle’s doctoral teacher at the Catholic University of America, said Tagle could have become the “best theologian” in Asia if he had not been appointed bishop.
“He was one of the best students I had in over 40 years of teaching, but as intelligent and diligent as he was, he was perhaps better known and loved by his professors and by his fellow students for the simplicity and holiness of his life,” Komonchak said in the blog of Commonweal magazine.
“He could have become the best theologian in the Philippines, or even in all of Asia, if he had been given the opportunity, but in his country the demands for the kind of teaching and preaching that he can offer are so many that a man of his talents will never have much time for reading and writing,” he added.
Allen and Komonchak also touched on Tagle’s association with the controversial Bologna-based “History of Vatican II” project, which has been criticized by conservative Catholics — including in the Vatican’s own newspaper L’Osservatore Romano — for providing a “liberal” interpretation of the historic Second Vatican Council.
“Tagle served for 15 years on the editorial board of the Bologna-based ‘History of Vatican II’ project founded by Giuseppe Alberigo, criticized by some conservatives for an overly progressive reading of the council,” Allen said.
Komonchak said Tagle wrote the chapter on “Black Week” or the last week of the third session of the Council in 1964. It came out in volume four of the five-volume “History of Vatican II.”
Tagle’s association with this “liberal” Catholic project makes his appointment more intriguing since the Pope is known for his conservative views on Catholic doctrine.
“It is good to know that such an association is not enough to make oneself entirely persona non grata in the Vatican. I suspect that it was (Tagle’s) work on the International Theological Commission that impressed the present Pope,” Komonchak said.
Allen said Alberto Melloni, an Italian academic and writer who has been directing the Bologna project, called Tagle “a thinker of real value” whose dissertation represented an important chapter in the history of Vatican II, and someone who’s “talented and serious.”
“Back in the Philippines, it would be a gross understatement to say that Tagle, who goes by the nickname Chito,’ is simply well-liked. In truth, most Filipino Catholics I know love the guy — for his warmth and humor, for his simplicity (he routinely eschews clerical dress), for his ability to express complex ideas in attractive and understandable argot, for his balance and openness, and for his lack of ego,” Allen said.
“He actually told a Catholic radio station in the Philippines this week that when he first heard he was going to Manila, he didn’t tell anybody, because ‘I thought maybe the pope would change his mind,’” he added.
Allen noted that one Filipino commentator noted Tagle as having “a theologian’s mind, a musician’s soul and a pastor’s heart.”
“In the Imus diocese, Tagle was famous for not owning a car and taking the bus to work every day, describing it as a way to combat the isolation that sometimes comes with high office,” Allen said.
“He was also known for inviting poor beggars outside the cathedral to come in and eat with him; one woman was quoted this week describing a time she went looking for her blind, out-of-work, alcoholic husband, suspecting she might track him down in a local bar, only to find that he was lunching with the bishop,” he added.
Allen added that another “typical story” happened after Tagle arrived in Imus when a small chapel located “in a run-down neighborhood was waiting for a priest to say Mass for a group mostly made up of day laborers at around 4 a.m.”
“Eventually a youngish cleric showed up on a cheap bicycle, wearing simple clothes and ready to start the Mass. An astonished member of the congregation realized it was the new bishop, and apologized that they hadn’t prepared a better welcome,” Allen said.
“Tagle said it was no problem; he got word late the night before that the priest was sick, and decided to say the Mass himself,” he added.
Being among the top four Catholic countries in the world in terms of population, the Philippines could be considered as a “Catholic superpower” and one of the nations destined to be “pace-setters in the church of the 21st century,” Allen said.
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Academics seek to separate Asean history from SE Asia
Not all Asean countries are in the Southeast Asian region, so the history of Asean and Southeast Asea should be separated, an academic said at a recent discussion. The seminar was also urged to write an Asean "people's history".
"We cannot tell the same story when talking about Asean and Southeast Asia in terms of history. Asean was established only about 45 years ago, while Southeast Asia existed well before that. More than a century ago, each Southeast Asian country chose either to be isolated or become a republic. After 1960, each country was in the process of building a nation, moving toward a new administrative system and economy. They became more integrated," Prof Thanet Aphornsuvan, from the Pridi Banomyong International College at Thammasat University, said.
He was speaking at a seminar on "Living Together under Social and Cultural Diversity in Asean" held by the Thailand Research Fund (TRF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was created on August 8, 1967.
"After 1960, Asean countries began to share similar internal changes in each country. Every country has had an authoritarian regime, and we have all experienced similar internal problems and sadness. Thus, we should write about what has happened in Asean and this will become our identity," Thanet said, adding that the history of each country since then has had more internal conflicts related to political changes than external conflicts with other countries in the region.
"We don't have to look into ancient history or conflicts in Southeast Asia when we talk about Asean," he added.
He also called on Asean countries to create a common history based on shared political changes and problems in order to create better connectivity among the people.
"It will be challenging when we see Asean history in this new aspect, instead of telling separate histories of the 10 member countries. This will make it easier to develop an understanding among the countries."
Meanwhile, Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of People's Empowerment Foundation, called for a "people's history".
"There have been many good examples of the Asean people, but they have not been talked about that much. For instance, not many people know that during the dispute over the Preah Vihear temple on the Thai-Cambodian border, people from both countries living near the border worked together to search for facts and find ways to end the dispute," she said.
Chalida added that accounts like this would help Asean people to understand each other and make adjustments.
The UNDP will include data from the seminar in its Human Development Report, while the TRF will make the information public via its newsletter.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/nat...eparate-Asean-history-from-SE-A-30199589.html
