Same stock, great leaders (5)

The spirituality of His Eminence, Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle or Chito for short, is a living model for every boy striving to be his likeness and attain his level of goodness for every human soul.

The prospect of his becoming Pope would bring a lot of blessings to the New Philippines of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is the greatest joy to the country and the Filipino people.

I claim kinship with his life as a boy because from the first year of high school I, together with Jesus Aldea, served in the Holy Masses said by Father Ramon Fuentes and his fellow priests almost every day in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception until our fourth year in high school — when I graduated Valedictorian — in Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion, Roxas City in 1954.

This kinship with goodness and being able to serve God at an early age rewarded me with the tenacity to do good and avoid evil, and as I approached manhood, I gained the sterling strength of invincibility in the face of any adversity. Kinship with what is good enabled the family to be close in loving togetherness all the time.

For if God is with you, nobody can go against you.

Before I continue with the scheduled commentary for today, please allow me to pontificate a little on the most fundamental element in building a nation — the element of spirituality.

No nation on earth did survive and last long by depending on food, matter and water alone. Without spirituality, they either declined in disgrace or went down quickly into extinction.

I have an overwhelming feeling the next Pope will be His Eminence Cardinal Tagle, the former Archbishop of Manila, now serving as the Pro-Prefect for the Section of Evangelization of Dicastery for Evangelization (formerly the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) since 5 June 2022, and as the Interdicasterial Commission for Consecrated Religious since 8 December 2019. He is the present Cardinal-Bishop of San Felipe da Cantecele and also serves as President of the Catholic Biblical Federation and is Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urganiane University.

The foregoing array of highest postings as an exalted prelate place him most prominently as the leading candidate for the highest post in God’s Church. Ninety-one million Catholic Filipinos here and all over the world are praying that God appoints Chito the next Pope.

That would bring to this archipelago of 7,714 beautiful islands, known all over the world as the Republic of the Philippines, the greatest blessings to the 117 million Filipinos, biblically chosen by God to flourish and be a haven of God-centered, economically strong, politically respected, peace-loving people in harmony with each other and among nations.

When, how, and why did all these blessings come to the Philippines?

Luis Antonio “Chito” Cardinal Tagle was born on 21 June 1954, the eldest child of devout Catholic parents, Manuel Topacio Tagle, an ethnic Tagalog, and Chinese-Filipino Milagros Gokim.

Cardinal Chito is known for his friendly demeanor and approachable nature, preferring to be called by his nickname “Chito.”

The people of Parañaque City, around the St. Andrew’s School in Barangay La Huerta, can expect tourists from Catholic nations. It was at St. Andrew’s where Cardinal Chito received his basic Catholic religious education. He completed his elementary and high school education in 1973.

The Cathedral of Saint Andrew, like the school, can also become a major global destination. It was established by the Spanish order of Saint Augustine on 11 May 1580.

This coming Thursday let us continue with our kinship with the kindness of Cardinal Chito and his lectures and the extent of his evangelization of peoples around the world, and then unto the City of Las Piñas whose mayor was cited as among the best in the NCR. (To be continued)