Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle: Asia’s bet to become the next pope is leaving it all up to God

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is known as the “Asian Francis” for what many see as the affable charm of the everyman. - AP

SINGAPORE: If bookmakers and crypto investors are right on the money, Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle may soon become the next head of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.

He is an odds-on favourite to succeed Pope Francis and become the first Asian pontiff in modern times. British bookmaker William Hill has his odds at 3/1, just behind Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who has a 9/4 odds. The website Oddscheker has the two cardinals tied.