Op-Ed: Phl Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle Is Untainted by Sex Scandal

By Leo Reyes
Digital Journal
March 11, 2013

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/345359


One of the major issues confronting the Catholic church is the involvement of religious leaders or priests in various forms of sexual abuse being committed on church members and other workers in the institutions under the Catholic church hierarchy.

In the ongoing selection process leading to the proclamation of the a new Pope following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI last February 28, two of the more than 100 Cardinals who are candidates to the papacy, were reported to be "clean" from scandals of sexually-abusive priests, according a report by telegraph.co.uk The report quoted a statement by the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), saying "the vast majority of cardinals are tainted by having ignored cases of predatory priests or by having actively covered them up and impeded efforts by police and prosecutors to bring the offenders to justice." "The only two "papabili" or papal contenders who have a credible record on sex abuse scandals are Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria," the statement added. Diarmuid Martin, the Archbishop of Dublin was also mentioned by the group as the other Cardinal who had a laudable record. SNAP said that Cardinal Tagle was “one of the very few prelates who have spoken clearly about the “culture of shame” that surrounds victims of sex abuse.” The possibility of Tagle's rise to papacy stemmed from recent statements by the Pope's elder brother Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, saying that the Pope feels a young successor is needed to steer the Vatican hierarchy of 1.2 billion Catholics across the globe. Cardinal Tagle is the second youngest Cardinal who is qualified to become Pope in accordance with the rules of succession. Aside from his impressive theological and academic credentials, Tagle, who is known for his charismatic nature, speaks fluent Italian, English,Tagalog, French and Latin. Msgr. Ratzinger was quoted to have said that his brother 'feels that a younger person is needed to deal with the problems of the times.

Tagle, who worked closely with Pope Benedict during his stint at the Vatican, has been touted as Pope Benedict's successor on account of his closeness with the outgoing Pope. But his closeness with the Pope has nothing to do with the succession process, according to some Vatican insiders. Still, some Vatican observers seem to have theorized that the outgoing Pope may have unknowingly campaigned for the young Tagle even before his controversial resignation, as may be gleaned from the attention he has given the young Cardinal in the last couple of years. In October 2011, Pope Benedict appointed Tagle as Archbishop of Manila. Prior to his designation as Manila's Archbishop, Tagle was appointed by the Pope as member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission. In a rapid succession, Tagle was teary-eyed when he learned that he was made Cardinal in just about a year after his appointment as Archbishop of Manila. "Tagle tearfully acknowledged in a recent homily in Imus that he was overwhelmed by his rapid rise." dailymail co.uk writes. 'It's unnerving,' he said. Because of Pope Benedict's implied actions on Cardinal Tagle's rapid rise to the Vatican hierarchy, Cardinals who may have interpreted the Pope's actions as favoring the young Cardinal, could in fact vote for Tagle in support of the wishes of the outgoing Pope.