Filipino schoolmate of 'brilliant' Cardinal Tagle recounts youth with the papal candidate

The Manila Times

Filipino schoolmate of 'brilliant' Cardinal Tagle recounts youth with the papal candidate  It was 1973 when Father Robert Reyes first met a young seminarian named Luis Antonio Tagle at the seminary in the Ateneo de Manila University. The country was under martial law, and the seminary was a place of quiet resistance and reflection.  "He was this very skinny boy from Imus, Cavite, and very quiet but then if you start talking to him, he's a conversationalist. You can talk, we can talk and he's very intelligent, very friendly,” Reyes told Reuters in an interview from Manila.  Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, is emerging as a likely contender to succeed Pope Francis, as the Church eyes leadership beyond Europe and possibly toward Asia or Africa, in next week’s conclave.  VATICAN MEDIA / HOST BROADCASTER POOL/ REUTERS VIDEO   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe  Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net  Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer Stitcher: https://tmt.ph/stitcher  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  Soundcloud: https://tmt.ph/soundcloud   #themanilatimes #tmtnews #worldnews

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00:00In 1973, I was in second year college and Chito came in and he was first year college in our

00:21seminary where the students studied in Ateneo. So he was this very skinny boy from Imos Cavite and

00:33very quiet but then if you start talking to him, he's a conversationalist. You can talk, you can talk

00:41and he's very intelligent, very friendly. So Chito made a mark for himself in academics.

00:50Everybody knew that he was brilliant and as early as that time, it was I think prophetic that

00:58some of the professors who knew how brilliant he was were saying he will become cardinal in the 70s.

01:07And when they got tired of saying he will become cardinal, from time to time, he might even become

01:16pope. Can you imagine, in his youth, he already showed exceptional qualities that made people think

01:30that he will go very far in the ecclesiastical ladder and which, many years later, happened.

01:39Nobody doubted that he will go very far because even in the seminary in Ateneo and later on in the

01:48School of Theology, he was always up there, up in the clouds, too far away from us all. Yet, in spite of

01:56his excellence in all of our studies, he didn't stay there, he always landed where we are and helped us

02:06along to survive our academic requirements. He was very good in bridging the gap between individuals and

02:17groups and groups. He was a facilitator. He will bring people together and encourage them to talk,

02:25encourage them to listen to him, and then he will listen to others. And, you know, the word

02:33pope comes from the Latin pontifex, which means bridge. So, a pope is one who bridges the gap

02:44between people and God and bridges the gap amongst peoples, nations, groups, races. So, Chito had all of that.

02:58I will find it a self-fulfilling prophecy because, as I said, we were teenagers and they were already

03:06teasing him, Cardinal Tagli. And some were even teasing him when they got sick and tired of just saying,

03:13Cardinal, Cardinal, Cardinal, why not Pope Chito? I will look at God and tell God, you really know how to surprise us.

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