Filipino faithful urged to respect sanctity of papal election

National

THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is urging Filipinos to respect the sanctity of the papal election process.

It also called on the public to refrain from mounting campaigns in support of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, who is widely regarded as a possible successor to the late Pope Francis.

In a statement recently aired on Radio Veritas, Fr. Jerome Secillano, the executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, emphasized that while Filipinos may feel pride over Tagle’s global recognition, any public campaign advocating for his election may be seen as undue external influence on the confidential process of choosing the next pope.

“It’s not prudent for the people to publicly push for Cardinal Tagle as the next pope since it may be misconstrued that the conclave can be influenced by outside forces if and when Cardinal Tagle indeed becomes the next pontiff,” said Secillano.

“The independence of the electors should be respected, and the least that we can do is to pray for Cardinal Tagle and the rest of the cardinal-electors,” he added.

Cardinal Tagle, 67, currently serves as pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization and has long been considered a strong contender in previous and current papal speculations.

He is among the three Filipino cardinals eligible to vote in the upcoming conclave, alongside Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula and Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David.

The conclave will begin after the burial of Pope Francis on April 26, with eligible cardinals from around the world convening at the Vatican to elect a new pontiff.

While Tagle has been affectionately dubbed the “Asian Pope Francis” for his pastoral style and global appeal, Church leaders in the Philippines reiterated that the selection of the next pope remains a sacred and internal matter of the College of Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the looming transition in the Catholic Church leadership is also sparking hope for renewed interest in religious vocations in the Philippines.

In a news report, Fr. JD Zaldivar, a formator and professor at San Carlos Seminary, said that major Church events often lead to a spike in seminary applications.

“The numbers are kind of fluctuating. There are years when it will go up, and then there are years that it will drop. But the overall trend is a bit downward. Not a very steep slope, but gradually going down,” he explained.

He recalled a noticeable increase in vocations following Pope Francis' historic visit to the Philippines in 2015 and expressed optimism that the upcoming papal election could once again inspire young Filipinos to pursue the priesthood.

“We don’t know what the Lord plans for us. Maybe in the coming years it will go up again…With the death of our dear Pope Francis, and maybe a new pope being elected in a few weeks, maybe some people who are witnessing this would feel interested in priestly and religious vocation,” he said.

Zaldivar also observed that while interest in the religious life is declining in the Western world, the trend appears to be reversed in parts of the global South, where the Church continues to grow.(TGP)