Photo: TIZIANA FABI / AFP / Getty Images
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, lovingly called “Cardinal Chito,” is lighting up the Philippines as a pope hopeful, blending karaoke swagger with deep faith, according to The Telegraph. This Filipino cardinal’s knack for crooning Tagalog love ballads like Florante’s "Handog," or John Lennon’s "Imagine" (minus the heaven-and-hell bits), has made him something of a church rock star.
Back in the '90s at Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol seminary, located south of Manila, then-rector Tagle would grab a guitar, belt out tunes and dance, leaving staff like Susan de Guzman in hysterics. "Everyone was laughing so much that we never got through the other acts,” she said, per The Telegraph. Tagle's charm isn’t just stage presence. His humor and humility — arriving at Imus Cathedral on a tricycle as a bishop — packed pews so full, worshippers spilled into parking lots. Parishioners mobbed his communion line, to his playful dismay.
“He’s a funny guy, he can crack jokes,” Father Ramon Bautista, a seminary pal from the ‘80s, told The Telegraph. “He can easily connect with people because he’s not threatening at all.”
Yet, Tagle’s thoughtful side shines, earning him the “Asian Francis” tag for progressive views like Pope Francis’s “Who am I to judge?” stance on gay Catholics. Raised in Imus by banker parents, Tagle served there as priest and bishop before becoming Manila’s archbishop for nine years. In 2020, he landed a bishop role in Rome, holding the titular San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle.
He’s pushed for compassion toward LGBT folks, divorcees and single mothers, calling past church stances “severe.” During former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, which killed tens of thousands of Filipinos, Tagle avoided public spats, instead quietly hosting talks and aiding rehab centers, said Father Emmanuel “Nono” Alfonso, per The Telegraph.
A theologian with a doctorate from Washington, D.C.'s Catholic University of America, Tagle led Asia’s Catholic boom, with 1.49 million new faithfuls in 2021, especially in the Philippines, where 80% are Catholic. His evangelization office in Manila fueled this growth, and Pope Francis saw Asia as the church’s future.
With the papal conclave set for May 7, 2025, Filipinos are buzzing, planning celebrations for Cardinal Chito, their great hope for pope.