Pope Francis on Saturday appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as his special envoy for the upcoming and biggest gathering of Asian bishops in Thailand’s capital of Bangkok.
The pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization will preside over the closing Mass of the 50th general conference of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences on October 30.
According to the Vatican bulletin, the liturgical celebration will be held at the Assumption Cathedral.
The Asian bishops’ meeting will begin on Oct. 12, and will be held at the Baan Phu Waan Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Bangkok.
This year’s conference theme is “FABC 50: Journeying together as peoples of Asia …and they went a different way.” (Mt 2:12).
The assembly also marks the belated 50th anniversary celebration of FABC, established in 1970 with the approval of the Holy See.
The FABC Secretariat said the 19-day conference will “reflect on the re-emerging and emerging realities and challenges of the Church in Asia”.
Prior to being appointed to the Vatican dicastery, Cardinal Tagle headed the FABC’s Office of Theological Concerns for many years while he was still the archbishop of Manila.