Bishop Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle was born in Manila on June 21, 1957. After completing Primary School and High School at St. Andrew’s School in Parañaque, an establishment led by the CICM Fathers, he studied Philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University and at San Jose Seminary, and Theology at Loyola School of Theology and at San Jose Seminary from where he graduated in 1982. He was ordained to the priesthood on February 27, 1982, and was appointed an associate pastor at St. Augustine Parish in Mendez, Cavite from 1982 to 1985, while he also taught Sacred Theology at San Carlos Seminary, at Loyola School of Theology (Manille) and at Divine Word Seminary (Tagaytay). He also held the positions of spiritual director at the Diocesan Seminary of Imus, Tahanan ng Mabuting Pastol, (Tagaytay City), from 1982-1983, then rector of that Seminary from 1983 to 1985. From 1985 to 1992, he was sent to further studies in Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of America (Washington D.C.) where he obtained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology in 1991. Upon his return in 1992 and up until now, he was entrusted with numerous responsibilities.
He was once again appointed as Rector of the Diocesan Seminary of Imus. In addition, he was named Episcopal Vicar for Religious, member of the Board of Consultors and Presbyteral Council, member of the Diocesan Commission on the Clergy, advisor to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, on the Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith and Commission on Seminaries. Since 1997, he is a member of the International Theological Commission of the Vatican.
In 1998, he was an expert at the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for Asia that took place in Rome. He also became president of the Commission on the Doctrine of the Faith of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines. In September 2001, at the request of the Congregation for the Clergy, he took part in a series of videoconferences on the subject of ongoing formation of priests.
He was appointed Bishop of Imus and was ordained to the Episcopacy by His Eminence Jaime Cardinal Sin, Archbishop of Manila, on December 12, 2001. The diocese of Imus has a Catholic population of 2, 210,000 in 46 parishes. Since he became Bishop of Imus, his activities have been as numerous as in the past. He travels throughout the country in answer to many invitations as a guest speaker. At the Synod of Bishops that was held in Rome in October 2005, he was elected member of the post-synodal Council and assistant to Cardinal Angelo Scola, general reporter of this Synod. While in Rome, he called on the Eudists for help in his diocese.
Bishop Tagle is a distinguished theologian, full of hope and highly respected. In his ministry, he is well aware of the importance of inculturation. In one of his interventions at the Asian Mission Congress, he stated that « As a storyteller of the Holy Spirit, the Church in Asia is to enter the worlds and languages of its listeners and from within them to tell Jesus’ story just like at Pentecost »