College of Cardinals

Rule Changes

Advisory body to the pope; elects his successor

Pope Leo XIV approved Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 69, as dean of the College of Cardinals on October 8, making him the first Asian to lead the body and replacing 92-year-old Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Tagle has begun taking on public duties, presiding at a Mass in St. Peter's Square on October 14 while the pope recovered from lung surgery.

Updated Oct 20