Tagle replaces Re as dean

The Vatican announced on Friday that Pope Leo XIV had approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as dean of the College of Cardinals, according to AP. Tagle, 69, succeeds Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, whose resignation from the post the pope accepted. The election was made by a half-dozen cardinals who hold the most senior rank within the college, AP reported, and Tagle was the youngest member of that group, which AP said suggested the cardinals intended their new dean to stay in the job for a while. ABC, citing the Holy See, reported that the pope approved the election on Thursday, so the approval and the announcement fall on different days in the sources. Re takes the title of dean emeritus and keeps the title of the suburbicarian church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto, according to the same report. Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila, will take the title of the suburbicarian church of Ostia while keeping that of Albano.

La Libre reports that Re has held the post since 2020. The timeline below traces the steps that led to Friday's appointment.

What the dean does

The dean has specific duties in a papal transition. He celebrates the funeral of the previous pope and helps run the closed-door meetings of cardinals before the vote on the needs of the church. If he is under 80 at the time of the conclave, he also runs the secret election in the Sistine Chapel. After a pope is elected, the dean asks the winner whether he accepts the job and what name he wants to be called. La Libre adds that the dean convenes the electing cardinals in Rome. Re performed most of these functions after Pope Francis died in April 2025, but the age limit of 80 for conclave participation meant he could not preside. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 71, the secretary of state, took that role at the conclave that elected Leo XIV on 8 May 2025, according to La Libre.

Luis Antonio Tagle69

Pietro Parolin71

Giovanni Battista Re92

Luis Antonio Tagle

69 years

Pietro Parolin

71 years

Giovanni Battista Re

92 years

Data from the article text

The ages in the chart are those reported in the coverage for the three cardinals named in the articles.

Papal contenders and precedent

AP reported that the dean post raises Tagle's papabile profile, making him a leading contender to be Asia's first pope in a future conclave. ABC described Tagle as one of the main candidates in the last conclave, known for his work in evangelization among young people in the Philippines and for a large following on social media. AP noted the precedent of Joseph Ratzinger, who was dean when he was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. Parolin, 71, was also rumored as a contender for the dean post, and he remains secretary of state. Francis extended Re's mandate in early 2025, with only months to live, even though Re was a decade beyond the Vatican's normal retirement age. AP reported that Francis wanted a loyal cardinal to run the conclave after his death, even though Re was not himself a contender. In the same period Francis added Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, to the senior ranks of the college.

Reaction in Poland

Tadeusz Wojda, chairman of the Polish Bishops' Conference, met the new dean Tagle, according to a press release from the Episcopate issued on Friday as reported by Nasz Dziennik. The Episcopate release did not describe the content of the meeting. Nasz Dziennik identified Tagle as proprefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, while AP described him as heading the Vatican's evangelization office. The sources agree that the appointment came alongside the Holy See's statement on Re's resignation.