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Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle
Dean of the College of Cardinals

Cardinals

Cardinale Luis Antonio Tagle

Cardinal, Dean of the College of Cardinals

Dicastero per l'Evangelizzazione · Filippine

Filipino cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Manila and Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches). Since 9 October 2026 he has been Dean of the College of Cardinals, the first Asian to hold the office.

Latest news about this person

Biography

Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle was born in Manila on 21 June 1957. Ordained a priest in 1982, he is a theologian and teacher; from 2001 he was Bishop of Imus. In 2011 Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Manila and created him a cardinal on 24 November 2012. In 2019 Pope Francis called him to Rome as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; with the reform of the Curia (Praedicate Evangelium, 2022) he became Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches. On 18 May 2025 he handed the Fisherman's Ring to Pope Leo XIV at the Mass inaugurating his Petrine ministry. On 8 October 2026 the cardinals of the Order of Bishops elected him Dean of the College of Cardinals; the Pope approved the election, announced on 9 October. He succeeds Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and is the first Asian to hold the role. He holds the title of the Suburbicarian Churches of Ostia and Albano.

Career timeline

  1. 21 June 1957

    Born in Manila (Philippines).

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  2. 27 February 1982

    Ordained a priest.

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  3. 22 October 2001

    Appointed Bishop of Imus by John Paul II.

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  4. 12 December 2001

    Ordained a bishop by Cardinal Jaime Lachica Sin.

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  5. 13 October 2011

    Appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Manila by Benedict XVI.

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  6. 12 December 2011

    Installed in the Archdiocese of Manila.

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  7. 24 November 2012

    Created Cardinal by Benedict XVI, with the title of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle.

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  8. 14 May 2015

    Elected President of Caritas Internationalis (re-elected in 2019).

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  9. 8 December 2019

    Appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

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  10. 1 May 2020

    Raised to the Order of Bishops by Pope Francis.

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  11. 19 March 2022

    Appointed Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for First Evangelization.

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  12. 22 November 2022

    Relieved of the presidency of Caritas Internationalis together with the organization's leadership.

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  13. 9 October 2026

    The Pope approved his election as Dean of the College of Cardinals (title of Ostia, retaining Albano).

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