Habemus pappam, eh?
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."
If they're gonna get close, they might as well go all the way, and elevate Cardinal Ratzinger.
Habemus pappam, eh?
Can you believe the campaign of slur and innuendo aimed at Ratzinger?
The long knives are out.
I was thinking Ratzinger, but after reading some bios, I think it will be Claudio Hummes from Brazil. He's of European ancestry and represents a place where Catholicism is growing by leaps and bounds. Everyone's happy.
Well, except American a la carte Catholics who are looking for a liberalization or a nod to the secular world. NOT going to happen.
Dear Rutles4Ever,
I doubt they'll elect a 60 year-old fellow.
sitetest
Supposedly the Cardinals of Buenos Aires, San Paulo, and
Tegulcigalpa are also strong candidates.
Wonder how they would rate on a deck-of-cards scale?
The tipoff would be if maple syrup is served at breakfast.
Fits the bill nicely. We need a younger, conservative Pope to finish off the liberals.
Regards, Ivan
Kinda reminds one of W....
Hopefully the election will go the same way.
One thought occured to me - perhaps this will do some good in Canada: its government is rife with corruption and trying to do immoral things like legitimise gay marriage. Perhaps the new Holy Father (God willing), will pay a visit to Canada and have the same effect on the Canadians as JP II did on Poland...Liberal tyranny might be killed off by this.
How beautiful it would be if God struck back at the Liberals for their malfesance in such a way.
Regards, Ivan
ping
A pope from secularist Canada would be as surprising as a pope from America.
If this guy becomes pope then you can count on Quebec leaving the union in the not so near future. Get ready for pandemonium.
Hey, he's a German. I'm not surprised at all. This IS America, after all, where Germans are generally treated this way.
Exceptions: Boris Becker, Steffi Graff and Michael Schumacher. They got a pass on our anti-Germanism. I guess because they wield no power.
All good points.
"In some ways he is a traditionalist, and has advocated a return to Eucharistic adoration and Gregorian chant, suggesting that Quebec’s 1960s “Quiet Revolution” marked too radical a change. Yet people who have worked with Ouellet describe him as friendly, humble, and flexible."
.... John Allen of the (liberal) National Catholic Reporter.
Catholic Ping - Please freepmail me if you want on/off this list
Actually the church has not done that well at all in Brazil in recent years, while Protestants, mostly Pentacostals and evangecals have grown dramatically in the last 20 years. Cardinal Hummes is considered to be a liberal.
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