Tagle gets another Vatican post

MANILA, Philippines — Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed former Manila archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to a new post in the Vatican, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) reported yesterday.

In an article, the CBCP said the pope named Tagle as a new member of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, which supports the Eastern Catholic churches around the world.

“As prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples or Propaganda Fide, which oversees the church’s vast ‘mission territories,’ Tagle’s new appointment was not surprising,” CBCP said.

With his new post, the CBCP said that Tagle will work with Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, who has been prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches since 2014.

Formerly known as Congregation for Oriental Churches, the Congregation for Eastern Churches was established by Pope Pius IX in 1862 as part of the Propaganda Fide. It was later declared by Pope Benedict XV as independent in 1917, and in the same year was renamed to the Congregation for Eastern Churches.

Tagle has been in the Vatican since February 2020 when he formally assumed his post as head of Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

In May 2020, Pope Francis elevated Tagle to the order of “cardinal bishops,” the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.

Tagle was also named as a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in July 2020 and member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See in February 2021.