Pope Leo XIV approved the election of Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as dean of the College of Cardinals on Friday, marking the first time an Asian cleric has held the influential post.

The Vatican announced that the 69-year-old Tagle, who serves as pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization's Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, was elected Thursday by the cardinals of the Order of Bishops. He succeeds Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 92, who submitted his resignation after nearly seven years in the role.

Tagle will assume the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Ostia while retaining his title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano. Re retains the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Sabina-Poggio Mirteto and becomes dean emeritus.

The dean of the College of Cardinals serves as "first among equals" among the Church's highest-ranking clerics and presides over the secretive conclave process in the Sistine Chapel when a pope dies or resigns. The position carries no governing authority over fellow cardinals under canon law.

A former archbishop of Manila, Tagle has been a senior Vatican official since 2020. He gained wide recognition as a possible papal candidate in the May 2025 conclave that elected Leo after the death of Pope Francis. Tagle was seen as a close ally of the late pontiff and leads the Vatican's missionary efforts.

The appointment shifts the deanship away from its traditional European dominance. The role has primarily gone to Europeans in recent decades, though the late Beninese Cardinal Bernardin Gantin held it from 1993 to 2002.

Leo, 71, remains relatively young for a pope and is reported to be in good health. The dean serves a renewable five-year term. Tagle delivered the fisherman's ring to Leo during the new pope's inaugural Mass in May 2025.