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Bella Cariaso - The Philippine Star
May 18, 2025 | 12:00am
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle met with Pope Leo XIV in a private meeting on May 16, 2025
Photo / Vatican News
MANILA, Philippines — Pope Leo XIV brings a calm warmth, shaped by prayer and missionary experience, according to Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle.
Tagle met with Pope Leo privately on Friday, a week after the pope’s election and first Urbi et Orbi blessing.
In an interview with Vatican News, Tagle said he first met Pope Leo in Manila and in Rome when he was still the Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine.
“We worked together in the Roman Curia starting in 2023. He has a deep and patient capacity for listening and engages in careful study and reflection before making a
decision. The pope expresses his feelings and preferences without imposing them. He is intellectually and culturally well-prepared, but without showing off,” Tagle said.
He noted that he has participated in two conclaves, first in 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI was still alive and in 2025, when Pope Francis had passed.
“Both Pope Francis and Pope Leo were elected on the second day. The conclave teaches us, our families, parishes, dioceses and nations, that communion of minds and hearts is possible if we worship the true God,” Tagle said.
During the conclave in the Sistine Chapel, Tagle and Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost (the future Pope Leo) sat next to each other.
“His reaction alternated between smiling and breathing deeply. It was holy resignation and holy fear combined. I silently prayed for him. The moment he got the required number of votes, a thunderous applause erupted,” Tagle recalled when asked how the pope reacted when the two thirds majority vote was reached.
He added, while keeping his Augustinian spirit, Pope Leo will also echo the Ignatian spirit of Pope Francis.
“I believe the whole Church – and indeed the whole of humanity – will benefit from their gifts. After all, St. Augustine and St. Ignatius (and all the saints) are treasures of the whole Church,” Tagle said.
On the other hand, Tagle said he found the attention he received as “unsettling’ after many people supported him, hoping he would become pope.
“As someone who does not enjoy being put in the limelight, I found the attention rather unsettling. I tried to muster spiritual and human strength in order not to be affected. I meditated a lot on the words of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis concerning ‘the grave duty incumbent on (the cardinals) and thus on the need to act with right intention for the good of the Universal Church, solum Deum prae oculis habentes (having only God before your eyes),’” Tagle said.
On the other hand, Tagle said his heart was “gladdened” by the numerous testimonies given by the Catholic faithful, non-Catholic Christian communities and members of non-Christian religions on the teaching and legacy of Pope Francis.
“I hope these testimonies continue to grow and be gathered as part of our understanding not only of Pope Francis but also of the Petrine ministry,” he said.
“For my part, I would highlight his gift of humanity – of being human to others – which marked his pontificate. If you have a personal story to tell about him, share it. Our world needs to rediscover and to nurture the beauty and worth of being authentically human. Pope Francis, through his simple and even frail humanity, has contributed immensely to this search, not for his own glory, but for the greater glory of God, who in Jesus became fully human,” Tagle said.
