Pope appoints Tagle as cardinal-bishop of Albano
Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the new titular bishop of Albano, a suburbicarian diocese the Pontiff himself held before his election.
“The assignment of the title of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano to a cardinal-bishop is a very ancient tradition. It signifies a close bond between the Pope, Bishop of Rome, and the titular cardinals,” the Diocese of Albano said in a statement on Saturday.
Tagle, proprefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, succeeded Pope Leo XIV—formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost—who held the title of cardinal-bishop of Albano for three months, from Feb. 3 until his election as Pope.
The Diocese of Albano, located just outside of Rome, is one of the seven suburbicarian sees historically associated with cardinal-bishops, the highest-ranking order within the College of Cardinals.
As a titular bishop, the cardinal-bishop does not actually reside in or govern the day-to-day affairs of the suburbicarian diocese, which is the task of the diocesan bishop.
‘Gesture of love’
“The choice to now entrust this title to Cardinal Tagle is a gesture of love and prompt concern for our Diocese of Albano,” said Bishop Vincenzo Viva, Albano’s diocesan bishop.
According to Viva, he already spoke with Tagle and expressed the diocese’s congratulations and assurance of prayers.
The 67-year-old Tagle has been a cardinal-bishop since April 14, 2020.
There are only 12 cardinal-bishops among 251 cardinals in the 1.4-billion-strong Catholic Church.
Traditionally, there have only been six cardinal-bishops at the Vatican.
Each of these cardinal-bishops is assigned to one of seven special churches close to Rome, called “suburbicarian sees.” These are the dioceses of Ostia, Velletri-Segni, Porto-Santa Rufina, Frascati (Tusculum), Palestrina, Albano and Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.
The see of Ostia is traditionally conferred on the dean of the College of Cardinals in addition to his current see. The current dean, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, is the titular bishop of Ostia (2020) and Sabina-Poggio Mirteto (2002).
The late Pope Francis, however, broke this tradition in 2018 and 2020 when he promoted six more cardinal-bishops, including Tagle.
No suburbicarian see was assigned to Tagle. But Pope Francis still ordered Tagle’s promotion, “equating it in all respects to the Cardinals awarded the title of a suburbicarian Church.”
Before receiving the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano, Tagle had served as cardinal priest of the Church of San Felice da Cantalice in Centocelle since 2012.
