MANILA, OCT. 13, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Imus, Philippines, has been named the metropolitan archbishop of Manila.
With two auxiliaries, the 54-year-old archbishop will shepherd the nearly 3 million Catholics of the Manila Archdiocese.
The prelate is currently the chairman of the Commission on Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
Archbishop Tagle succeeds Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, who served in the influential post for eight years. The cardinal turned 79 last August, and had been waiting for the Pope to accept his retirement.
Luis Antonio Tagle was born in Manila on June 21, 1957, and ordained to the priesthood in 1982, at the age of 25.
From 1985 to 1992, he was sent for further studies to the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., where he earned his doctorate in theology.
Since 1997, he has been a member of the International Theological Commission. In 1998, he was named an expert for the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia.
In 2001, he was ordained the bishop of Imus.
The Archdiocese of Manila has 2.8 million Catholics served by just 640-some priests and about 1,500 religious.
