Daniel del Castillo González
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of 92-year-old, Giovanni Battista Re, and has approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as the new dean of the College of Cardinals.
This responsibility takes on special importance when the Church is without a pope. The dean summons the cardinals to Rome and presides over the pope’s funeral and the Mass for the Election of a Roman Pontiff.
If he is under 80 years of age, he also presides over the election in the Sistine Chapel. And at the end, it’s his duty to ask the elected candidate whether he accepts the papacy and what name he wishes to adopt.
The position functions as a presidency among equals. Its role is to coordinate and represent all the cardinals, maintain contact among them, and assist them whenever needed.
Cardinal Re is stepping down from this position that he had held since January 2020, and whose
tenure Pope Francis extended in 2025.
Tagle will assume the role as dean while serving as pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. It is important to note that the Cardinal Bishops nominate the candidate, but the pope must confirm the appointment.
Since the reform introduced by Pope Francis in 2019, the term of office has been five years, renewable if necessary.
