The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has appealed to the public to refrain from campaigning for Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the next pope, citing concerns about potentially undermining the integrity of the papal conclave.
Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, stated in an interview with Radio Veritas Philippines that public promotion of Cardinal Tagle could be misconstrued as an attempt to influence the election process.
“It’s not prudent for the people to publicly push for Tagle as the next pope since it may be misconstrued that the conclave can be influenced by outside forces,” said Fr. Secillano. “The independence of the electors should be respected, and the least that we can do is to pray for Tagle and the rest of the cardinal electors.”
Cardinal Tagle, 67, currently serves as the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and is considered one of the "papabili" — potential candidates for the papacy — due to his strong pastoral background and global appeal, often dubbed as the “Asian Pope Francis.”
Following Pope Francis' burial on Saturday, the papal conclave will begin, with 135 cardinal-electors under the age of 80 expected to vote, including three from the Philippines: Tagle, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, and Cardinal Jose Advincula of Manila.
Seminary Enrollment Trends
Meanwhile, Fr. JD Zaldivar, a professor and formator at San Carlos Seminary, expressed hope that the election of a new pope could inspire renewed interest in the priesthood. He acknowledged a gradual decline in seminary enrollment in recent years but remains optimistic.
“The numbers are kind of fluctuating... but the overall trend is a bit downward. Not a very steep slope, but gradually going down,” he shared during an interview on One News' "Storycon."
Zaldivar noted that major religious events often lead to a temporary increase in vocations. He recalled a surge in enrollment after Pope Francis visited the Philippines in 2015 and speculated that the current transition in Church leadership may again inspire vocations.
“Maybe some people who are witnessing this would feel interested in priestly and religious vocation,” he said, adding that while vocations have declined in the West, growth is visible in the Global South, including the Philippines.
With inputs from Janvic Mateo, Philstar.com
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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