Jaehwa Bernardo

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle presides over the Christmas Eve Mass at the Manila Cathedral on December 24, 2019. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

Philippine bishops defend papal frontrunner Tagle over clerical sex abuse

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/174633810381120191224_christmas-eve-mass-tagle-MD-5.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in December 2019. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in December 2019. <em>Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Philippines&#x27; governing body of Catholic bishops has issued a rare statement on clerical sexual abuse, defending Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the issue days before the opening of a conclave to elect a new pope.</p><p>Watchdog group BishopAccountability.org warned Friday that Tagle and Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin could not be relied on to protect children, with its co-director accusing the church in the Philippines of remaining in the &quot;dark ages.&quot;</p><p>Both men are considered frontrunners to replace Pope Francis. Cardinals from around the world are currently in the Vatican, ahead of a conclave on Wednesday of the eligible ones among them to elect a new pontiff.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/3/from-the-margins-to-sistine-what-ph-cardinals-bring-to-conclave-post-francis-church-1628"><strong>From the margins to Sistine: What PH cardinals bring to conclave, post-Francis church<br/></strong></a></div><p>The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) posted a statement to its Facebook page Saturday night saying that &quot;addressing allegations of misconduct by clergy rests with the respective diocesan bishops or religious superiors&quot; and not with Tagle.</p><div><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcbcpnews%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0273gYSJHqDTGfiiYJ1brQ1bdQYSKMKEvESyzHak6iVbFTPwAogBwbHtgiR67tXAk7l&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500" width="500" height="526" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div><p>&quot;Since his appointment to a full-time position in the Roman Curia, Cardinal Tagle no longer holds direct authority over any diocese in the Philippines,&quot; the statement dated May 2 reads.</p><p>It also noted the key role Tagle — who served as archbishop of Manila between 2011 and 2019 — had played in crafting pastoral guidelines on sexual abuse that were disseminated in 2003.</p><p>Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, said Friday that guidelines dealing with sexual abuse cases have not been published on the webpages of the Manila archdiocese nor the bishops&#x27; conference of the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;If Cardinal Tagle cannot even get his brother bishops from his home country to publish guidelines, what on earth can we expect for him to achieve as pope of a global church?&quot; asked Doyle.</p><p>The document cited by the CBCP, &quot;Pastoral Guidelines on Sexual Abuses and Misconduct by the Clergy&quot;, could not be found on the body&#x27;s website by AFP journalists Sunday.</p><p>Calls to the CBCP and the Manila Archdiocese were not immediately returned.</p><p>Doyle reserved even harsher criticism for Italian cardinal Parolin, calling him a &quot;consummate secret-keeper&quot; and saying &quot;any hope of transparency around sex abuse will be dashed completely,&quot; were he to be elected.<br/><br/></p><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong><br/><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ys7XUYR1XDw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><strong></strong><br/></div>

<p>The Philippines' governing body of Catholic bishops has issued a rare statement on clerical sexual abuse, defending Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the issue days before the opening of a conclave to elect a new pope.</p>

The Philippines' governing body of Catholic bishops has issued a rare statement on clerical sexual abuse, defending Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on the issue days before the opening of a conclave to elect a new pope.