Replies

In further detail:

Now let’s take a look at the Top Five candidates from the developing world.

1. Arinze, Francis (Nigeria, 71)
The prospect of a “black pope” has long captivated the imagination of the world’s media, helping to make Arinze a much-discussed possibility. He grew up a member of the Ibo tribe in Nigeria, and converted to Catholicism at age nine.

Would he still be papabile without this headline-making factor? Maybe.

Perhaps the biggest strike against him is that he has spent the last 20 years in Rome working in the Curia, first as the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, now as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. Hence to the outside world he may be an African, but to many cardinals he’s a Roman.

Arinze is a charming figure, with a broad smile and an acute sense of humor. He is seen as deeply spiritual, sincere, honest, and a man capable of listening to others despite his own strong views. His theological positions range from moderate to conservative, and, in the blunt speech that Africans prize, he pulls few punches. In May 2003, for example, Arinze delivered the commencement address at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His strong language shocked and offended some listeners: “In many parts of the world, the family is under siege,” Arinze said. “It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce.”

Critics say Arinze is neither a visionary nor an especially original thinker. Those who know him, however, say he does have his own ideas, but they are sometimes eclipsed by his loyalty to the current pope. Arinze engineered the beatification of Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi, a Nigerian Cistercian monk who died in 1964 and in 1998 became the first West African candidate for sainthood to reach the penultimate step. It was Tansi who baptized Arinze and encouraged him to become a priest.

2. Bergoglio, Jorge Mario (Argentina, 66)
A Jesuit and the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Bergoglio is one of a handful of cardinals whose education was not initially in philosophy or theology. He actually trained as a chemist before deciding to become a priest. He was elected the Jesuit provincial for Argentina in 1973 and held the position for many years. He pursued theological studies in Germany, has published three books, and serves as Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University in Argentina.

Bergoglio drew high marks when he replaced Cardinal Edward Egan of New York during the October 2001 Synod of Bishops as general relator. On the other hand, Bergoglio is a Jesuit, which creates certain reservations. Jesuits are not supposed to receive ecclesiastical honors, and there is some resistance within the community to the idea of a Jesuit pope.

Within the Jesuits, Bergoglio’s reputation is mixed. He was appointed provincial in Buenos Aires in 1973, which means that he enjoyed the respect of his brothers. On the other hand, Jesuit sources in Rome say he was a divisive leader. At a time when many Latin American Jesuits were moving into the social apostolate, he insisted on a more traditional, spiritual approach, demanding that Jesuits continue to staff parishes and act as chaplains rather than moving into “base communities” and political activism. Eventually he stepped down as superior in 1980.

Bergoglio is today close to the Comunione e Liberazione movement. Twice he has presented Spanish editions of the books of the movement’s founder, Fr. Luigi Giussani, at Argentina’s major annual book fair. If he were to be elected, certainly Bergoglio’s simplicity and humility could strike the world. In Argentina, for example, he takes public transportation rather than a chauffer-driven limousine.

3. Dias, Ivan (India, 67)
The Archbishop of Mumbai (Bombay), Dias rose up through the Vatican diplomatic corps, with junior postings in Ghana, Togo and Benin, then nominations as the papal nuncio to Korea and Albania. Dias also served in the Holy See’s embassies in Scandinavia, Indonesia and Madagascar, and was subsequently posted to the Council for the Public Affairs of the Church in the Vatican. He worked in the Secretariat of State as the desk officer for several countries in Europe, Africa and Asia, including China and the erstwhile Soviet Union.

Dias is thus a cosmopolitan, speaking at least a little of 16 languages, and he knows global politics as few cardinals do. He is also a rare theological conservative among the Indian bishops, known for a more moderate stance.

At an October 2000 press conference sponsored by the Legionaries of Christ, Dias dismissed the theology of religious pluralism associated with India, which regards other religions as part of God’s plan for humanity, as largely a concoction of avant garde theologians rather than something accepted by average Mass-going Indian Catholics. (Some Indians question how well positioned Dias is to make such a judgment, noting that he has spent most of his career outside the country).

Dias is also strong on moral questions. In a November 2003 Vatican address, he praised a priest who counseled women who had abortions to give their unborn children a names so they could anticipate “meeting their baby one day” in heaven. He also referred to homosexuality as a disease of the soul, and said he prayed for such people to be “cured of their unnatural tendencies.” Dias thus blends fidelity to the church’s doctrinal tradition with the appeal of coming from an Asian culture.

4. Hummes, Cláudio (Brazil, 69)
A strong Latin American candidate, Hummes is a member of the Franciscan order, like the legendary Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns whom he replaced in Sao Paolo. In a typical Franciscan touch, his episcopal motto is “We Are All Brothers”.

Like Arns, Hummes was born in southern Brazil from German parents. As a young bishop, he had a reputation as a progressive, opposing Brazil’s military regime and backing workers strikes. Hummes also allowed famous Brazilian leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, now the country’s president, to make political speeches during Masses.

Under John Paul II, Hummes moved somewhat to the right, adopting a more traditional theological stance and distancing himself from political action. In July 2000, when a Brazilian priest suggested that condoms could be justified to fight AIDS, Hummes threatened disciplinary action.

Hummes is well-respected in Rome, and was invited to preach the 2002 Lenten Retreat for the papal household. Yet he defends the Movimento dos Sem Terra (landless movement), arguing that people should be encouraged to organize themselves to defend their rights. He reminds government leaders that the church defends private property, but “with social responsibility.” Hummes thus could strike some electors as the right mix between doctrinal caution and social engagement.

Frei Betto, the famous Brazilian Dominican and liberation theologian, told NCR in 2002 that Hummes would be a “great pope.” His lone flaw, according to Betto: “He works too much.”

5. Rodriguez Maradiaga, Oscar Andrés (Honduras, 60)
Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is widely seen as a rising star in the Latin American church. He served as president of CELAM, the federation of Latin American bishops’ conferences, until 1999. A Salesian, he speaks near-perfect Italian and English (along with passable French, Portuguese, German, Latin, and Greek), plays the piano, and has taken pilot training.

Rodriguez is ferocious on social justice issues. He was part of a small group that met German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in Cologne to hand over the Jubilee 2000 petition for debt relief. “Neo-liberal capitalism carries injustice and inequality in its genetic code,” he said in 1995. Some say his rhetoric, however, is not matched by a command of policy details. His theological training came in the post-Vatican II period.

He studied at the Alfonsian Academy in Rome where he took classes from the legendary liberal moral theologian Bernard Häring, whom Rodriguez calls an “idol.” He has a reputation for being unusually open on ecumenical questions for a Latin American bishop, many of whom have little experience in religiously pluralistic settings. Early in his episcopal career he took a positive view of other church groups working in his diocese.

Rodriguez has a warm smile and a ready sense of humor. On the other hand, some local observers say Rodriguez is better known on the embassy reception circuit than among the campesinos; one called him a “1930’s cardinal” in that regard.

He earned a degree of notoriety in the United States in 2002 by comparing media criticism of the Catholic church in light of the sex abuse scandals to persecutions under the Roman emperors Nero and Diocletian, as well as Hitler and Stalin. He later said in an interview with NCR that his intent was to draw attention to the suffering of peoples in the Third World, suggesting that the massive media attention to the scandals in the American press was disproportionate. While his comments angered some Americans, they may have helped reassure more conservative members of the College of Cardinals that Rodriguez Maradiaga can be relied upon to defend the church when it’s under assault.