Crowning Glory (Cardinal Rigali Named to Bishops Congregation)

Zenit and WITL ^ | September 26, 2007 | Rocco Palmo

[NYer]

Just days ago, it was noted here that no archbishop of Philadelphia had ever held that most coveted of Curial appointments: a seat among the kingmakers of the Congregation for Bishops...

...that is, until today.

This morning, in a move considered both historic and a personal homecoming, the Pope named Cardinal Justin Rigali to the membership of the congregation, the all-powerful Vatican body that oversees the appointment of bishops to non-missionary dioceses the world over.

Then-Archbishop Rigali served as the congregation's secretary from 1989 to 1994, when he was named to the archdiocese of St Louis. Before going to the Midwest, the native of Los Angeles had served in the Roman Curia for three decades, including stints as the senior English-language aide to three pontiffs and the first American to head the diplomatic school of the Holy See, the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

Since 2002, when Cardinal Bernard Law resigned as archbishop of Boston and moved to Rome, no resident US prelate has held a seat on Bishops. Not even two weeks after Cardinal Edmund Szoka's 80th birthday -- a milestone that, by law, required the Midwesterner's departure from the congregation's oblong table of 30 cardinals and bishops -- the dicastery's American contingent returns to four members. What's more, its senior English-language staffer is a local product, Msgr Andrew Baker of the diocese of Allentown. 

Returning to the table, the Pharaoh joins not a few friendly faces, including his seminary classmate Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and his longtime collaborator in the Secretariat of State Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who as prefect of Bishops runs the congregation's meetings and presents the body's opinions to the Pope in a weekly Saturday audience. 

While John Paul II usually assented to the congregation's choices during the encounter, Benedict XVI is known to be more thorough in his deliberations, sometimes choosing a different appointee than the congregation's stated preference.

During his days in St Louis, Rigali served as an informal, yet no less effective, kingmaker as multiple priests of the onetime "Rome of the West" were elevated to the episcopacy at a notable clip, whether as hometown auxiliaries or diocesan bishops in their own right. The group includes Archbishops Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas and Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee, Bishops George Lucas of Springfield, Paul Zipfel of Bismarck, John Gaydos of Jefferson City, Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, Edward Braxton of Belleville and Robert Finn of Kansas City-St Joseph.

In large part, the unlikely emergence of the 72 year-old Philadelphia prelate as a voting member of his last curial home can be chalked up to a need to replenish the congregation's membership with keen talent scouts, particularly given the recent difficulties of finding suitable and willing candidates for episcopal appointment in the United States.

The requirement that cardinals step aside from their dicastery memberships at age 80 has done much to deprive Bishops of some of its most experienced hands in recent months. Besides Cardinal Szoka, six other longtime veterans of the table have entered mandatory retirement over the last year: Cardinals William Wakefield Baum, Eduardo Martinez Somalo, Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, Agostino Cacciavillan, Jean-Marie Lustiger and Franciszek Macharski, John Paul II's successor as archbishop of Krakow. The eighth departure of note comes in late November as Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the former Secretary of State, reaches his superannuation date.

As of this writing, a consistory for the creation of new cardinals is still on-schedule for 24 November, following which the dicastery memberships will be further refilled with a handful of the new princes of the church. Among those expected to fill the additional vacancies on Bishops, as previously noted, is Philadelphia's Archbishop John Foley, currently Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.

Also a member of Vox Clara -- the blue-ribbon commission overseeing the revision of English-language liturgical translations -- Rigali additionally holds the US bishops' most-prominent committee portfolio as chair of its pro-life efforts. In a national message released earlier this week to mark the annual observance of Respect Life Sunday, the cardinal wrote that "the truth about the incomparable dignity and right to life of every human being... is no sectarian creed."

Quoting Pope Benedict's recent homily at the Austrian shrine of Mariazell, the message noted that "If truth does not exist for man, then neither can he ultimately distinguish between good and evil. And then the great and wonderful discoveries of science become double-edged: they can open up significant possibilities for good, for the benefit of mankind, but also, as we see only too clearly, they can pose a terrible threat, involving the destruction of man and the world."

[NYer]

And from Zenit News Agency

---

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, SEPT. 26, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI named Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, to the Congregation for Bishops.

The Vatican announced today the appointment of the 72-year-old prelate.

Among its duties, the dicastery helps oversee the appointments of bishops. It conducts background investigations and makes recommendations to the Holy Father.

Justin Rigali was ordained a priest in Los Angeles in 1961.

He studied and worked in Rome for more than 30 years. Most notably, he was president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican school for international diplomacy, from 1985 to 1989, and secretary of the Congregation for Bishops from 1989 to 1994.

He was named the archbishop of St. Louis, Missouri, from 1994 to 2003, then moved to the same post in Philadelphia in 2003 and elevated to cardinal that same year.

He is a member of the Vox Clara Committee, which oversees the translation of Latin liturgical texts into English, and the chair of the U.S. bishops' conference Committee on Pro-life Activities.

[fatima]

Our own here .God Bless him.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I hate to have to ask this, but: is he a good guy? Anybody know?

[Malacoda]

I met him recently when he visited my daughter’s school. I got a good impression of him.

[Tax-chick]

Cardinal Rigali is one of the good guys. His auxiliaries are being placed in vacant dioceses - such as Raleigh, NC - that previously had barking moonbats.

[fatima]

He is ,he told us not to read about the bad priests,some whom I knew,in the Sunday Inquierer.He took it back,that was the one thing I questioned about him.I believe his was a concern for the souls who would read the report.We ignored that. I have no negatives.

[Salvation]

** the all-powerful Vatican body that oversees the appointment of bishops to non-missionary dioceses the world over.**

To me, this is good news!

[Salvation]

Saradippity has that list.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1902720/posts?page=4#4

[netmilsmom]

This is the Diocese of St. Louis’ interpertation of the GIRM.
http://www.archstl.org/worship/girm.html

Pretty tough stuff for some people. I love it.

Like this...
Is holding hands during the Lord’s Prayer allowed or encouraged?

BCL Newsletter, October-November 1989

No. The community’s corporate act of receiving communion is the primary symbol of unity with Christ and the Church. The Sign of Peace immediately preceding the reception of Communion is a liturgical rite that should not be minimized or duplicated in any way. A separate but related issue is the situation of individuals who for personal reasons feel uncomfortable with the practice of holding hands. In this case those individuals feel increasingly excluded from the worshipping community. Sensitivity is needed to include all and draw all to the true symbol of unity.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Yay! Amen!

[dangus]

>> the Pharaoh <<

WHAT???

[Cheverus]

If you base it on the list of Bishops he’s had mentored, it would seem to be yes.

His successor in St. Louis is also Burke, so some groundwork must have been laid.

These are only external observations from O’Malleyland.

[dangus]

>> I hate to have to ask this, but: is he a good guy? Anybody know? <<

Very authentic; very solid administrator.

[dangus]

Rigali was consecrated by JP2, becoming an archbishop at 50. His own list of proteges is impressive.

He was the principle consecrator of:

Abp. Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee who replaced notorious child-peddler Remmy Weakland (Abp at 52!).
Abp. Fred Naumann of Kansas City, KS (Abp at 55!)
Bp. Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, which is bursting with dozens of vocations each year.
Bp. Kenneth Braxton of Belleville, former see of former USCCB President Abp. Wilton Gregory of Atlanta.
Bp. Eugene Brandt of Greenburg
Bp. Kevin Rhodes of Harrisburg (installed at 49)

His proteges (former auxiliaries) also include:

Abp. James Green, apostolic nuncio to South Africa
Bp. Michael Burbidge of Raleigh
Bp. Michael Bransfield of Wheeling-Charleston, WV
Bp. Joseph Galante of Camden, NJ
Bp. Robert Finn of Kansas City, MO
Bp. George Lucas (no kidding!) of Springfield, MO
Bp. John Gaydos of Jefferson City
Bp.-Emeritus Edward O’Donnell of Laffayette
Bp. Paul Zipfeld of Bismarck...

... and of course several current auxilliary bishops.

He was also principle co-consecrator, with Pope John Paul II as principle consecrator, of a very long list of bishops, archbishops and Cardinals, owing to his previous position in the curial office.

[old and tired]

Rigali's been a little bit of a disappointment here in Philly. I believe him to be an orthodox man, but he has less of a spine than Cardinal Bevilacqua, who of course had less of a spine than dear old Cardinal Kroll. Here are a couple of examples of how Cardinal Rigali works.

We have a parish in Philadelphia, St. Vincent's, where all the dissidents go. After Cardinal Bevilacqua retired, the parish got further and further off the reservation until they got to the point where the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist were actually on the altar for the Consecration and raising the host with the priest. It was at that point that Cardinal Rigali stopped the outrage. So I think that while he is orthodox, he really doesn't like to make waves unless he absolutely has to.

Here's some more Cardinal Rigali. There is a group of IVF doctors practicing out of a local Catholic hospital and Rigali refuses to evict them, actually telling local pro-life leaders it would create bad press and that the hospital needs to have a fertility practice for Catholic healthcare to remain competitive in the region. In fairness to the Cardinal, the actual babies are not created and stored at the hospital, but this is the group's main office where the appointments are made, payment is taken and followup is given. Some folks have speculated that perhaps the lease for these doctors will not be renewed - which really seems more in keeping with Rigali's style - but in any case this group of doctors has been allowed to schedule and facilitate baby creation out of this hospital for more than a year.

I will say however, that our newest bishop, Dan Thomas, is a blessing from God, and since he was Cardinal Rigali's personal secretary in St. Louis, it is widely believed the Cardinal personally fingered him to be his auxiliary bishop. So I can well believe Cardinal Rigali will be a wonderful addition to this group.

[Mrs. Don-o]

>> the Pharaoh <<

WHAT???

Huh?

[old and tired]

Thanks for the list. I’d forgotten about the Bransfield appointment. That was another disappointment to me personally, but I don’t know how the folks in his current diocese feel.

[ArrogantBustard]

Some really beautiful new Church buildings have been built in WV ... check out St. Leo in Inwood WV and St. James in Charles Town WV. The priests I've seen up there tend to be orthodox ... but ...

There's at least one Parish (St. Agnes, in Shepardstown) that is loaded with "Call to Action" heretics. And some of the priests, however orthodox themselves, allow their "ministers of music" and similar a free hand in ignoring rubrics.

[marshmallow]

>> the Pharaoh <<

WHAT???

Another Rocco-ism. It's Palmo's name for Rigali who is his home town archbishop.

He'll also refer to the present Pope as "Fluffy" or "His Fluffiness" from time time, due to his thick white hair.

C'mon man, get with the hip nicknames.