Pope appoints Tagle to another Vatican post

MANILA – Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will be serving another post at the Vatican, aside from being the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

According to Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website, Pope Francis appointed Monday the Filipino cardinal as a member of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), which operates the Vatican’s central bank.

The office acts as the equivalent of a treasury and also oversees real estate holdings and other sovereign assets. It also administers payroll and operating expenses for Vatican City.

The APSA is currently headed by Italian Bishop Nunzio Galantino with a hundred employees and collaborators, and a commission of eight cardinals.

Pope Francis has recently brought under the control of APSA the financial investments and real estate holdings owned by the Secretariat of State — the central administration of the Vatican.

Also appointed to the body as a member is Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

Tagle assumed his current post in February 2020. Three months after, the Holy Father elevated him to the order of “cardinal bishops,” the highest rank within the College of Cardinals.

It is from the ranks of cardinal bishops that the Dean of Cardinals is elected. The dean presides at the conclave in case of “sede vacante,” a period when there is no pope.

In July 2020, he was also named a member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Tagle is also president of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of Catholic charities around the world. He is serving his second and last term.