Cardinal Tagle Elected First Asian Dean of Cardinals

Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle has been elected Dean of the College of Cardinals, the first Asian to hold the position. Pope Leo XIV confirmed the election on October 8 and announced it on October 9.

Cardinal Tagle, 69, serves as Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches. He succeeds Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is 92 and now becomes Dean Emeritus.

Cardinal Tagle assumes the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Ostia while retaining the Suburbicarian Church of Albano. Cardinal Re retains the Suburbicarian Church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.

The Dean of the College of Cardinals acts as primus inter pares—first among equals. He coordinates the College without governing authority over its members and serves the order and communion of the cardinals under the Roman Pontiff.

When the Apostolic See is vacant, the Dean presides over the conclave that elects the new pope, provided he is under 80 and therefore a cardinal elector. At 69, Cardinal Tagle remains an elector and would preside at a future conclave should one be required during his tenure.

Under the Church’s practice, the cardinals elect their Dean and the Pope confirms the choice. Cardinal Re steps aside as Dean Emeritus while keeping his suburbicarian title of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.

Cardinal Tagle continues as Pro-Prefect for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, the section charged with the initial proclamation of the Gospel and with young particular churches in mission. He now joins that charge to the coordination of the College, holding the titles of both Ostia and Albano.

The Dean does not govern the universal Church; that authority belongs to the Successor of Peter alone. The election of Cardinal Tagle nonetheless marks a historic shift: for the first time, a cardinal from Asia holds the deanery of the College of Cardinals, with the confirmation of the Holy Father.