Progressive force or timid academic? Filipinos hope for the first Asian pope, but he has his critics

In cathedrals across the Philippines, Catholics are awaiting next week’s conclave to choose the next pope with guarded optimism. While some are hesitant to say it, there’s tremendous hope here that a 67-year-old hailing from the city of Imus, south of Manila, could make history and become the first ever pope from Asia. Luis Tagle is among the 135 cardinals hunkering down in the Vatican to choose a new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics, and church observers regularly rank him among the top contenders for the role. He was ordained as a priest in 1982 and was made a cardinal…