Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle formally took possession of his titular diocese of Albano in Italy on Saturday, marking a significant step as a cardinal bishop.
The suburbicarian diocese of Albano, one of seven historic sees surrounding Rome, has traditionally been assigned to the Church’s highest-ranking cardinals.
While the title is conferred on a cardinal, the diocese continues to have its own resident bishop and administration.
The ceremony at the Albano Cathedral, according to the Pontificio Collegio Filippino (PCF), was presided over by diocesan bishop Vincenzo Viva and attended by local clergy and lay faithful.
Tagle was accompanied by a large group of Filipinos, including members of his family, residents of the PCF, and members of the Filipino community in Italy. Two other cardinals, three bishops, and about a hundred priests concelebrated the Mass.
The event carried double significance due to a recent Filipino ecclesiastical anniversary and a notable date in the Church calendar. Just days earlier, on Oct. 7, the PCF celebrated the 64th anniversary of its inauguration.
The PCF, a key institution for Filipino diocesan priests studying in Rome, was blessed and inaugurated by Pope St. John XXIII in 1961 — whose feast day also falls on Oct. 11.
PCF rector Fr. Gregory Ramon Gaston said the ties between the Filipino college and the Diocese of Albano date back to the college’s foundation.
He said it was Cardinal Giuseppe Pizzardo, then cardinal bishop of Albano and prefect of the Sacred Congregation of Seminaries and Universities, who laid the cornerstone of the new college-seminary, dedicated to Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage.
“This historical fact means that the cardinal bishop of Albano played a direct, foundational role in establishing the Collegio Filippino,” Gastons said.
The appointment of Tagle to Albano followed a historic turn earlier this year. The title had briefly been assigned to Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was scheduled to take possession on May 10 but was elected as Pope Leo XIV on May 8.
The titular church remained vacant until it was formally assigned to the Filipino cardinal and pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization on May 24.
Tagle was elevated to the rank of cardinal bishop by Pope Francis in 2020, joining the Church’s highest order of cardinals. At that time, he retained his titular church of San Felice da Cantalice a Centocelle, as there were not enough suburbicarian dioceses available.
With his assumption of Albano, Tagle succeeds the current pontiff in the historic role of cardinal bishop of the diocese.
