POPE FRANCIS appointed former Manila archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle as member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue last Wednesday, July 8.
Tagle is among the 22 new appointees to the council, including five other cardinals, seven archbishops and nine bishops from around the world.
According to Vatican News, the council is the Catholic Church’s central office on the promotion of interreligious dialogue in line with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.
It is also responsible for “promoting mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration between Catholics and followers of other religious traditions, promoting the formation of persons dedicated to dialogue, and encouraging the study of religions.”
Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot has served as the president of the council since May 2019.
In May 1964, the council was formed as a special department of the Roman Curia, the administrative body overseeing affairs of the Church.
The Roman Curia has 12 pontifical councils for different sectors and areas of concern, namely Laity, Promoting Christian Unity, Family, Justice and Peace, Cor Unum, Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, Health Care Workers, Legislative Texts, Interreligious Dialogue, Culture, Social Communications and Promoting New Evangelization.
In May, the Pope elevated Tagle as Cardinal-Bishop, the highest rank in the Church’s College of Cardinals. He was the first Filipino, Asian, and the youngest among the 11 cardinal bishops in the Vatican.
Tagle was also appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican’s missionary arm, on Dec. 8.
In the Philippines, the Church marks this year the “Year of Ecumenism, Interreligious Dialogue, and Indigenous Peoples” as part of preparations for the celebration of 500 years of Christianity in the country in 2021.
