Posted on 04/19/2005 5:43:06 AM PDT by Rutles4Ever
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While pundits and cardinals themselves discounted any chance of a U.S. cardinal emerging as the 265th pontiff, a Canadian cardinal crept quietly onto the lists of "papabili."
Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a polyglot academic who briefly served as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, started showing up on Italian newspapers' top-12 list three days before the April 18 conclave.
The newspaper Il Messaggero first referred to the 60-year-old as "the wild card" in the cardinals' deck, but the day the conclave opened it highlighted the Canadian's language skills, theological background and "fervent" Marian devotion.
"He is close to the positions of (Cardinals Joseph) Ratzinger and (Camillo) Ruini and a disciple of (Father Hans Urs) von Balthasar. Someone has sworn that he could be the 'surprise' of the conclave," Il Messaggero wrote.
"Very young with a peaceful countenance, he is considered one of the 'papabili,'" the newspaper said in a separate story in the same opening-day edition.
And in a third story, more analytical, the paper's chief Vatican reporter, Orazio Petrosillo, said that if the cardinals could not agree on an Italian pope they "could be forced to make a sensational leap across the ocean to the Americas," choosing either Cardinal Ouellet or one of four Latin Americans.
Even though he is not Italian, Cardinal Ouellet is no stranger to Rome and, more importantly, he can speak the language.
After studying in Rome, he returned to the city to teach in 1996 and a year later was appointed chair of dogmatic theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.
In 2001, he was named a bishop and appointed secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He also served on the Commission for Religious Relations With the Jews.
The Italian dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera mentioned Cardinal Ouellet as being "the only North American" in the running.
The Corriere del Ticino daily April 17 called Cardinal Ouellet "the strong last-minute candidate."
I read an article about Cardinal Ouellet this morning and came away very impressed by him.
That's conventional wisdom. I agree, but my opinion is worthless to the Holy Spirit with regards to the conclave.
The Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, 59, Archbishop of Quebec, is a Sulpician. He never imagined when he went home to Quebec last December to take up the reins of the archdiocese that he would be back in Rome so soon.
(The Tablet, 23 April 2005) A member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology and the Curia's Commission for the Church in Eastern Europe, he was appointed in 2001 secretary of the Christian unity council. Fluent in French, English, German, Spanish and Italian, he is known for strictly following Church teaching on controversial matters.
His reception in a decidedly non-traditional diocese has not been always smooth. He has urged young people to practise self-discipline, chastity, prayer and the sacraments, and is known to be worried by the suicide rate among young people in Quebec.
Quebec's not going anywhere. Union with the rest of Canada is their free lunch lifeline.
Ouellet would be good.
Dear Rutles4Ever,
"That's conventional wisdom. I agree, but my opinion is worthless to the Holy Spirit with regards to the conclave."
LOL. Mine, too.
However, the one opinion that I'm willing to offer tentatively is that the Conclave will not elect a 60 year-old man pope.
sitetest
From the ones that I know, Brazil is a place where the husbands still have mistresses on the side and sometimes, second families. Of course, not all Brazilians are like this but it is common. Life is tough for women in Brazil. The women though, are hard workers.
So am I prescient or what? ;-)
Hummes is relatively liberal, and will not get the nod.
One problem: Hummes is a communist.
Oops, my pal Raymond Arroyo (I just want to pinch his cheek!) just said that there is more black smoke.
I think that does it for Ratzinger.
Looks like the progressives are holding fast.
White smoke??? Bells????
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