Luis Antonio Tagle Quotes

Francis does not teach anything new; what he says is already written in the Gospel: Jesus' love for the poor, the call to conversion, and everything else. He told me that he greatly admires Paul VI, especially Evangelii nuntiandi, which for me is perhaps the most important document of the post-conciliar period. However, Francis emphasised joy, gaudium, because there is a tendency in today's world, not only in the Church, to feel tired and sad. Family life, study, work: these are experienced as a burden. But we have the real reason to be joyful: Jesus, who died and rose again, is alive and is our hope.

Io futuro Papa? È uno scherzo dei giornalisti.

God who comes to us. We will never be alone. Emmanuel: God with us. And other things that are with us will disappear: the investments, the achievements, the gifts, our money… will all disappear. All these things that we have associated with Christmas may disappear. But Jesus who comes as one of us, God with us, will remain with us forever. So that is our hope.

Francesco non insegna cose nuove, quel che dice è tutto già scritto nel Vangelo: l’amore di Gesù per i poveri, la chiamata alla conversione e tutto il resto. Lui mi ha detto che ammira molto Paolo VI, l'Evangelii nuntiandi in particolare, che per me è forse il documento più importante del dopo Concilio. Francesco, però, ha messo l’accento sulla gioia, il gaudium, perché c’è una tendenza nel mondo contemporaneo, non solo nella Chiesa, a sentirsi stanchi e tristi. La vita familiare, lo studio, il lavoro: sono vissuti come un peso. Ma noi abbiamo la vera ragione per essere lieti: Gesù, morto e risorto, è vivo ed è la nostra speranza.

Father Kroeger mentioned you both loved music. Could you tell us a little story about what happened during those years you were studying together? Cardinal Tagle: Father Jim – or “Jim” at that time — was the choir director of the seminary choir. Especially during big events in the seminary, the philosophy seminarians and the theology seminarians would come together to form one big choir. Jim would teach us and conduct the choir. He was a joy to watch because we didn’t know whether he was conducting or dancing. He made music practice quite enjoyable. Of course we did not tell him that at the time. It was fun because some choir directors that followed Jim were quite stern. He made it fun.

I was not totally surprised that the Holy Father would release an encyclical on Jesus’ love for us, symbolized in His Sacred Heart. For me, it was the Holy Father’s way of making the Christological foundation of the social encyclicals Laudato si and Fratelli tutti” more explicit.