Widely known as the "Asian Francis", Fr Tagle accompanied Pope Francis on his 11-day tour of South East Asia last year. He also constantly tries to make Catholicism relevant to younger Filipinos with a strong presence on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and X.

The leader of the world’s 1 billion Roman Catholics addressed past scandals and embraced migrants, the poor and gay and lesbian faithful. Some wished he’d gone further.

A longtime Vatican correspondent shares his insights on the legacy of Pope Francis, a populist leader who sought to bring the Church closer to the people.