VATICAN CITY – The Philippine cardinal Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, 63 years old, prefect of Propaganda Fide and president of Caritas Internationalis, tested positive for Covid-19 after a swab performed on his arrival in Manila on Thursday evening. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, explained that the cardinal “has no symptoms and will remain in fiduciary isolation in the Philippines”.
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In the Vatican – starting with the Pontifical Filipino College, where he resides, and the building of the Congregation – and in the other places visited by Tagle in recent days, “the necessary checks are being carried out with those who have come into contact” with the head of the department, the Vatican prime minister to be infected.
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Last time, the cardinal saw Pope Francis at the hearing on 29 August. The Vatican does not say at the moment whether the Pope will also be subjected to a swab.
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It just says that on 7 September Tagle had already had a swab in Rome and tested negative. Already in March there was talk of a swab to Francesco, a negative result, after the first infections in the Vatican, but even in that case the Holy See had said nothing and never confirmed or denied the control. During the Pope’s audiences, however, distances and all safety protocols are respected and just last Wednesday Francis showed himself for the first time with a mask, inside his car, on his way to the hearing and back.
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Cardinal Taglie is one of the most authoritative personalities of the Catholic Church: of a Chinese mother, a key figure in the Church’s relations with Beijing, is highly esteemed and close to Francesco, who appointed him al summit of Caritas and then wanted to lead the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and has been considered for some time one of the most authoritative candidates to succeed him in a future conclave.
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11 September 2020 (change 11 September 2020 | 16:56)
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