Cardinal Antonio Tagle elected dean of the College of Cardinals

The Vatican announced Oct. 9 that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has been elected as the new dean of the College of Cardinals upon the retirement of 92-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

Cardinal Tagle was elected in a vote of the most senior cardinals of the Catholic Church, holding the rank of cardinal bishops and who number about a dozen. At age 69, Cardinal Tagle was the youngest cardinal among them with nearly all of the non-patriarch cardinal bishops being over the age of 80 with the exception of 71-year-old Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Pope Leo XIV approved the cardinal bishops' election on Oct. 8 and gave Cardinal Tagle the traditional title of the suburbicarian church of Ostia, which he will hold while retaining his prior titular suburbicarian see of Albano.

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As the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Tagle will have the responsibility of presiding over a conclave in the event of the death or resignation of the pope. In addition to summoning the cardinals to Rome and leading the general congregations, or daily meetings of cardinals, leading up to and during the conclave, the dean is the one who asks the pope-elect if he accepts the election and what his papal name shall be.

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Cardinal Tagle currently serves as pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization in the Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches, a role he retains with his new responsibility as dean. The Filipino cardinal was considered a "papabile," or papal contender, in the conclaves of 2013 and 2025. Pope Francis promoted him to the highest rank of cardinal bishop in 2020. Cardinal Tagle recently presided over the beatification of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen in St. Louis in September.

Cardinal Re had served as dean of the College of Cardinals since January 2020. He presided over the general congregations leading up to the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV in May 2025, but because he was over 80, Cardinal Parolin took his place in presiding over the conclave itself as the senior voting cardinal bishop in the Sistine Chapel.

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As dean, Cardinal Re officiated at the funeral Mass of Pope Francis and presided over, along with Pope Francis, the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Re also stood in for Pope Francis as the main celebrant at the altar of many papal Masses during the last years of his pontificate when Pope Francis was suffering from health problems. The cardinal will turn 93 in January.

Upon Pope Leo's acceptance of his resignation, Cardinal Re now has the title of dean emeritus of the College of Cardinals and retains the titular see of the Suburbicarian Church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.

(Courtney Mares is Vatican Editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.)