It was 1973 when Father Robert Reyes first met a young seminarian named Luis Antonio Tagle at the seminary in the Ateneo de Manila University. The country was under martial law, and the seminary was a place of quiet resistance and reflection.

"He was this very skinny boy from Imus, Cavite, and very quiet but then if you start talking to him, he's a conversationalist. You can talk, we can talk and he's very intelligent, very friendly,” Reyes told Reuters in an interview from Manila.

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, is emerging as a likely contender to succeed Pope Francis, as the Church eyes leadership beyond Europe and possibly toward Asia or Africa, in next week’s conclave.

Known affectionately as “Chito,” Tagle combines decades of pastoral leadership with administrative experience, first as Bishop of Imus, then Archbishop of Manila. He was elevated to cardinal in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.

“Everybody knew that he was brilliant and as early as that time I think it was prophetic that some of the professors who knew how brilliant he was, were saying 'He will become Cardinal', in the 70's," Reyes said, recalling the "exceptional qualities" Tagle showed in his youth that led his peers to see a bright future for the young priest.

"That made people think that he would go very far in the ecclesiastical ladder, which many years later, happened,” Reyes said.

Tagle, often referred to as the “Asian Francis” for his humility and focus on social justice, served as Archbishop of Manila before being tapped by Pope Francis in 2019 to lead the Vatican’s evangelization office. If elected, he would become the first Asian pope in modern history.

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The conclave begins on May 7, and takes place over as many rounds of voting as needed until one candidate gets a two-thirds majority, triggering the billowing white smoke that tells the outside world whether they have elected a new leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.

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(Production: Adrian Portugal)