CBCP asks Pinoys: Don’t campaign for Tagle as pope

MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday asked the public to refrain from campaigning for Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to become 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,” CBCP Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs executive secretary Fr. Jerome Secillano said over Radio Veritas.

“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 said.

The 67-year-old Tagle, who is the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, has been reported as one of the “papabili” or a contender to be the shepherd of the 1.4 billion Catholics in the world.

He has been dubbed by some as the “Asian Pope Francis.”

After Pope Francis’ burial on Saturday, cardinals below the age of 80 will gather for the conclave and vote for the next pope.

There will be three cardinal-electors from the Philippines: Tagle, Kalookan’s Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David and Manila’s Jose Cardinal Advincula.

Seminary enrollment down

Following the death of Pope Francis and the expected selection of a new leader of the Catholic Church in the coming weeks, a priest and professor is hopeful that more Filipinos will join the religious vocation.

Fr. JD Zaldivar, formator and professor of San Carlos Seminary, confirmed on “Storycon” on One News that they see a downward trend in their enrollment at the seminary.

“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 said.

“We don’t know what the Lord plans for us, maybe in the coming years it will go up again. Usually, what we are seeing is when there is a major event in the church or a religious event, we see an increase in those who are interested to become priests,” he added.

Zaldivar noted an increase in their enrollment following the visit of Francis to the Philippines in 2015.

“I’m thinking that 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 added.

Zaldivar said interest in joining the religious vocation has dropped in the Western world, but he noted the increase among those in the global South.

“Even their baptisms are also increasing,” he added. — Janvic Mateo