Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has been elected dean of the College of Cardinals, becoming the first Asian prelate to hold the prestigious position.

Pope Leo XIV approved the election by the cardinal bishops on Friday, October 9, according to a Vatican bulletin.

Tagle, 69, succeeds Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, who has served as dean since January 2020. Re will retain the title of dean emeritus and his titular church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto.

As the new dean, Tagle will assume the title of the suburbicarian see of Ostia while retaining that of Albano.

Tagle currently serves as pro-prefect of the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization.

The dean coordinates the work of the College of Cardinals and has specific responsibilities during a papal vacancy, including presiding over a conclave if eligible.

Traditionally, the dean served for life and was regarded as primus inter pares, or first among equals, among the cardinal bishops.

However, in 2019, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio establishing a five-year term for the dean, renewable for another five years.

Despite the position’s seniority, the dean does not automatically exercise governing authority over fellow cardinals by virtue of the office.