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Filipino cardinal, the ‘Asian Francis’, is papal contender
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By Francesca Hangeior
Asia’s front-runner for the papacy, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines is a charismatic moderate often dubbed the “Asian Francis”.
Tagle, 67, who shares with Pope Francis a history of advocating for the poor, migrants and other marginalised people, is known for his missionary spirit and pastoral focus.
Wearing glasses with a youthful air and ready smile, the cardinal nicknamed “Chito” is a popular figure among the fervently religious country’s more than 90 million Catholics.
Born into a working-class family near Manila, Tagle was ordained as a priest in 1982 and became archbishop of the nation’s capital in 2011, a politically influential post in one of the largest dioceses in Asia, where Catholicism is growing.
He was made cardinal by former pope Benedict XVI in 2012.
A fluent English speaker, Tagle has been mentioned as a possible papal contender since the last conclave in 2013, when Francis was elected, and his name is on everybody’s lips this time around.
Underscoring the close ties between the late Argentine pontiff and Asia’s most prominent bishop, Tagle was appointed in 2019 head of a key Vatican department, the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
After Francis reformed the department, he named Tagle “pro-prefect” in 2022, leading the section for “First Evangelisation and New Particular Churches”, with responsibility over new dioceses.
As a bishop, Tagle was known for chatting with the faithful after mass and even inviting beggars to dine with him at his residence.
The adjustment to life in Rome and the formalities of the Vatican was not easy — he told theology graduates soon after arriving in 2020 that he “makes the Italians suffer” when he speaks their language.
He also once forgot to wear his clerical collar to a meeting.
An eloquent speaker with a soothing voice, Tagle giggles at his own jokes and injects self-deprecating humour into his homilies.
But he is also known for being outspoken.
As archbishop of Manila, Tagle criticised the bloody war on drugs waged by Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippines’ president at the time.
“We cannot allow the destruction of lives to become normal. We cannot govern the nation by killing,” Tagle said in a pastoral letter in 2017.
Tagle has called for a humbler Church more open to the concerns of its members, and at a 2019 Vatican summit on fighting child sex abuse he pointed the finger at the Church’s top ranks.
“Wounds have been inflicted by us bishops on victims and in fact the entire body of Christ,” he told the delegation.
“Our lack of response to the suffering of victims, and yes even to the point of rejecting them and covering up the scandal to protect perpetrators and the institution, has injured our people, leaving a deep wound in our relationship with those we are sent to serve,” Tagle said.
However, he has been accused of failing to tackle the issue sufficiently in the Philippines.
Questions have also been raised over what he knew about the employment in the Central African Republic of a Belgian priest, Luk Delft, by the Vatican’s Caritas Internationalis charity.
Delft had previously been convicted of child sexual abuse and banned from contact with children for 10 years.
Tagle served as president of Caritas Internationalis, the world’s second-largest charitable association, from 2015 until 2022.
In 2022, Tagle and the rest of the leadership team were removed by Francis after a Vatican-led audit found “deficiencies” in management and procedures.
In June 2023, the pope appointed Tagle as his special envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He carried out a similar role for the pontiff at the General Conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) in Bangkok in October 2022.
The cardinal has said he never saw himself as a high-ranking man of the cloth.
“If I were God, I would not choose me to be a bishop or a cardinal,” he said in a 2018 interview.
“But since I’m not God, God sees something in me probably that I don’t see in myself and I just have to trust God’s knowledge of me.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has said it is yet to receive the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the Federal High Court judgment that set aside an earlier order directing it to register the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, as a political party.
INEC revealed this in a statement issued on Saturday by its Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Chairman, Adedayo Oketola.
According to the commission, although it is aware of media reports on the judgment delivered by the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja on June 26, it cannot comment on the ruling until it obtains and reviews the certified copy.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is aware of reports circulating in the media regarding the judgment delivered on Friday, June 26, 2026, by the Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, which set aside an earlier order concerning the registration of the Nigeria Democratic Congress.
“However, as of this moment, the Commission has not yet received the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the court’s order,” the statement said.
INEC stated that its legal department would study the judgment upon receipt of the CTC before advising the commission on the next course of action.
“Once the Commission’s legal department receives and thoroughly studies the CTC of the judgment, INEC will take an informed, lawful decision in line with the court’s directives.
“Until then, we cannot comment on the specifics of the ruling, and the public is urged to await the Commission’s formal position on the matter,” Oketola added.
Justice Isah Dashen of the Federal High Court in Lokoja had on Friday set aside the court’s December 10, 2025, judgment directing INEC to register the NDC as a political party.
The court held that the rights of the Peace Movement Party were affected by the earlier judgment because it was not joined in the suit despite claiming ownership of the logo relied upon in securing the registration order.
Justice Dashen consequently ordered that all parties be restored to the positions they occupied before the December 2025 judgment and directed that the substantive suit be heard afresh with all necessary parties joined.
The NDC has rejected the ruling and announced plans to appeal the decision. Its National Chairman, Senator Moses Cleopas, maintained that the party had not been deregistered and argued that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to revisit a matter on which it had already delivered a final judgment.
The ruling has also attracted reactions from opposition figures, including the NDC’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, the party’s National Leader, Senator Henry Dickson, and other stakeholders, who described the decision as a threat to Nigeria’s multiparty democracy and vowed to challenge it through all available legal channels.
INEC, however, maintained that it would reserve its position on the judgment until it receives and reviews the Certified True Copy.
A joint police operation rescued five victims abducted near Ogbere Forest in Ogun state on Wednesday.
They were rescued within 25 hours by the Lagos and Ogun Police Commands, which were part of a joint operation codenamed KOSAYE, meaning “No Space” in Yoruba.
The woman was among the victims who were shot in the incident. Her daughter and sister were among those rescued by the police on Thursday.
The Embassy of Ireland in Nigeria has announced the opening of applications for the 2026 Ireland Fellows Programme, a fully funded scholarship scheme that will enable successful candidates to pursue Master’s degrees in Ireland.
The announcement was made in a post on the embassy’s official X handle on Friday, confirming that applications will open on Monday, June 29, 2026.
The programme is designed for early and mid-career professionals from Nigeria and Ghana who wish to undertake a one-year postgraduate study at leading universities in Ireland.
The embassy stated: “Applications for the Ireland Fellows Programme open on 29 June 2026! Apply for the opportunity to study in Ireland on a fully funded master’s scholarship.”
According to the mission, detailed information on eligibility criteria and application procedures is available on the official programme portal.
To be eligible, applicants must be citizens and residents of Nigeria or Ghana, possess a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree with at least a Second Class Lower, and have a minimum of three years of relevant professional experience.
For Nigerian applicants, the programme includes the Roger Casement Fellowship in Human Rights, which supports postgraduate studies in fields such as Law, Human Rights, and Governance.
The scholarship covers tuition fees, monthly living stipends, accommodation, travel and visa costs, as well as health insurance for successful candidates.
Applications will remain open from June 29 to July 26, 2026, with submissions to be made online through the official Ireland Fellows Programme portal.
“Applicants from Nigeria and Ghana can find all info and applications here https://irelandfellows.africa @commercium_afr,” the statement added.
Lokoja Court order: INEC speaks on NDC, says it’s yet to receive CTC
Just in: Police rescue five abductees in Ogun
Ireland Opens Fully Funded Master’s Scholarship For Nigerians
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