PHILIPPINES
Rappler

Aries Rufo

Jan 19, 2015

AT A GLANCE

* Veteran Vaticanista John Allen cited Tagle’s 3 strong points: “an effective communicator and missionary,” as the face of the “dramatic growth of Catholicism outside the West” and “pastoral experience” as administrator of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila

* Tagle’s “social capital” was enhanced with the papal visit, and its success is sure to catch the attention of Church leaders worldwide

* But it takes more than popularity, even among peers, to be elected pope

MANILA, Philippines – Then there was that hug that ignited the imagination of many Filipinos: Pope Francis embracing his Asian equivalent, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, at the tarmac.

This was shortly after the Holy Father arrived at the Villamor Airbase tarmac for a 5-day visit.

Uncannily, that embrace between the 78-year-old Pontiff and the 57-year-old Archbishop of Manila resembled the special…