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After more than two years of preparations, the General Congregation of the Jesuits began this morning in Rome with a papal delegate's call for enhanced fidelity from the church's largest religious community. Representing Pope Benedict, Slovenian Cardinal Franc Rode CM, the Vatican's prefect of the Congregation for Religious Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, celebrated the opening liturgy of GC35, which'll shortly see the election of the Society's new superior-general to replace the retiring Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach. In his homily at the Mass, held in the Jesuit mother-church of the Gesu, Rode said that "with sadness and apprehension," he...

Cardinal Pell on the Dictatorship of Relativism "A Recipe for Disenfranchisement and Passivity" CANBERRA, Australia, SEPT. 23, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is the text of an address Cardinal George Pell of Sydney delivered Wednesday at the National Press Club in the Australian capital. * * * The Dictatorship of Relativism Address to the National Press Club By Cardinal George Pell Shortly before he entered the conclave in which he was elected Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger preached the homily at the pre-conclave Mass and warned against the rise of "a dictatorship of relativism." It is an evocative phrase which frightened some and...

EMINENT cleric, Francis Cardinal Arinze, has said that he harbours no personal grudge against Pope Benedict XVI stressing that the Holy Spirit who guided his election does not discriminate against any contestant to the papacy on ground of race or region. Arinze, the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacrament in the Vatican, was widely touted as likely successor to the late Pope John Paul 11. But the incumbent formerly, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emerged the new Pope at a Conclave of 115 Cardinals of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005. However, speaking in an...

BARCELONA, Spain, MAY 13, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The retired archbishop of Barcelona spoke about the "overwhelming" experience of participating in the conclave that elected Benedict XVI, at a dinner organized by e-christians. Respecting the oath of secrecy, Cardinal Ricard María Carles, 78, spoke to the Spanish organization about everything from the pre-conclave meetings to the election of the new Pope. The first day of the general congregations was dedicated to familiarizing the cardinals with logistical issues, such as seating arrangements and the doors which they should use, and even the names of the doors. Carindal Carles commented that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,...

ROME, APRIL 28, 2005 (Zenit.org).- As the world gets acquainted with Benedict XVI, I have had a chance to catch up with some who shared his life closely over the past few weeks -- the cardinal electors who participated in the conclave. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, Austria, for instance, said he felt "an immense gratitude to God and gratefulness to the Holy Father that he has accepted the burden of this election. … I am sure it will be a very great pontificate." The cardinal spoke as he left the gate next to the building that houses the Congregation...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See's Web page has succeeded in coping with the unprecedented interest in Pope John Paul II's illness, death and funeral, the conclave, and Benedict XVI's election. According to Global Language Monitor, interest in John Paul II's death far surpassed that of other events such as the December tsunami in southern Asia; the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; and the deaths of Ronald Reagan and Princess Diana. The greatest impact on Internet was registered by the Vatican's official site (www.vatican.va). Legionary of Christ Father Fernando Vérgez, director of the Holy See's Internet Office,...

The time the emperor’s veto helped the election of a saintly pope A hundred years ago, on 4 August, Giuseppe Sarto was elected pope with the title Pius X. Not least thanks to the veto that Franz Josef, the emperor of Austria, put on the Sicilian Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro by Andrea Tornielli         A hundred years have passed since the conclave in August 1903 elected Cardinal Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto as pope. The last pontiff to have been proclaimed saint, a great pastor pope who gave small children the possibility of going to first communion. From the...

Pope Benedict XVI was elected by an overwhelming majority of his fellow cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, possibly rallying an impressive 100 out of 115 votes, Italy's La Repubblica has reported. The exact number of votes in favour of Joseph Ratzinger will likely never be known, as records of the four ballots of this week's conclave have been sealed and can only be opened upon order of the pontiff himself. But citing Vatican sources, La Repubblica said the German-born Pope won the support of far more cardinals than the strict two-thirds majority needed to be elected. Pope Benedict was...

Interview With Father Paul O'Callaghan ROME, APRIL 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Watching news reports on the conclave, many Catholics are asking themselves: Who is the Holy Spirit and what is his role in the conclave? ZENIT asked Father Paul O'Callaghan, dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of the Holy Cross, to talk about the main protagonist of the conclave. Q: So many are calling on the Holy Spirit these days. Do you think that he is invoked only in very important moments? Father O'Callaghan: I am convinced the Holy Spirit is active always in the Church and the...

ROMA, April 20, 2005 – They called him a conservative. But Joseph Ratzinger revolutionized even the conclave which, on April 19, made him pope, Benedict XVI, “a humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.” Never in the past century has the choice of a pontiff been spoken in a language so clear and sharp. And it came with a buildup which become more impressive as the hour of truth drew near. Until his last conference on the state of the world, which Ratzinger gave on the last day of the deceased pope’s life. Until, even more importantly, the last...

Conclave Confidential: One Cardinal's Secret DiaryLocked down amid the frescoes and thoughts of flan. Patt Morrison April 20, 2005 The conclave journal of Roger Cardinal Mahony:Opening Day, minus 1. Checked into the Casa Santa Marta hotel — and I got a top-floor room! I asked about a low-carb menu; I don't want to nod off after a big pasta lunch — huge embarrassment. Isn't it funny — I have to come all the way to Rome to cast a vote that actually counts. The first ballot is tomorrow, but even four votes a day plus prayer surely can't take up...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Whatever happened to the sacred oath of secrecy? Cardinals were sworn to silence about everything that happened during deliberations in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new pope. But within hours of the conclave, some German cardinals - delighted about the choice of their countryman, Joseph Ratzinger - spilled some of the secrets. Cardinal Joachim Meisner told reporters Tuesday night that the new Pope Benedict XVI was elected on the fourth ballot - the first of the afternoon session. He added that Ratzinger got more than the required two-thirds support. ``It was done without an electoral...

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday pledged to work to unify all Christians, reach out to other religions and continue implementing reforms from the Second Vatican Council as he outlined his goals and made clear his pontificate would closely follow the trajectory of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, listed top priorities of his papacy in a message read in Latin to cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel for the first Mass celebrated by the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He said his "primary task" would be to work to...

Let's hope today brings us a new Pontiff!

WE HAVE A POPE!!!

¡Habemus Papam!Folks, I knew he was "papabile," and knew he could make a great Pope, but wow! I am elated.¡Ad multos annos, Benedictus, PP XVI, Pontifex Maximus!It is a great and agreeable surprise that the former "Panzer" Cardinal is now the new Holy Father. What his election portents for the Church is continuity and consolidation of the work of Pope John Paul the Great. We can expect continued, strong doctrinal clarity, leadership, and discipline, as well as the continued authentic interpretation of Vatican II. All-in-all, steady as she goes for the Ship of Peter. The initial coverage from the mainstream...

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Before the cardinals locked into the Sistine Chapel had a chance to cast their first ballot April 18, a group protesting the lack of women's voices in the conclave gathered outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago to send up billows of bright pink smoke along with prayers for women to be heard. The event featured statements from several organizations supporting the ordination of women that called on the church to open its doors fully to women's participation. "At a time when young women are sold into slavery around the world, when war brings the rape of women,...

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...

Photos before the first day of the conclave. St. Martha's House where the Cardinals reside during the Conclave.... The living quarters at St. Martha's house where the Cardinals will reside during the Conclave... More images at link.

In 1996 Document on the Vacant See VATICAN CITY, APRIL 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II's 1996 exhortation to whoever is elected the next pope could be spelled out in three words: Be not afraid. In the norms for the election of a pope, the Holy Father entreated whoever is elected in the conclave, which began today, "not to refuse, for fear of its weight, the office to which he has been called, but to submit humbly to the design of the divine will." "God who imposes the burden will sustain him with his hand, so that he will be...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Personal and community prayer, ballots and a retreatlike atmosphere are the characteristics of the conclave that 115 cardinal electors are holding to elect a new pope. Joaquín Navarro Valls, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed that the cardinals moved into the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse, on Sunday afternoon and dined together in the evening. They will reside in this House for the duration of the election. This afternoon they processed to the Sistine Chapel, where the voting will take place. By the authority of the cardinal chamberlain and with the outside...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The primary objective of Pope John Paul II's norms for the conclave was to spare cardinals from external pressures -- and even coercion from other electors. The Holy Father's 1996 apostolic constitution "Universi Dominici Gregis" in No. 80 punishes with "excommunication latae sententiae," that is, automatically, "each and every Cardinal" if they accept "from any civil authority, the task of proposing the veto," to any of the possible candidates. It is enough to incur excommunication "even under the guise of a simple desire," "both before the election begins and for its duration." "I intend...

THE WASHINGTON TIMES ROME -- Among the crowds awaiting the new pope are Catholic clergy who say John Paul II was their primary inspiration. "The first time I met this pope, I was 13 years old," said the Rev. Donald Tremblay, a Montreal priest in town for the funeral and conclave. "I had goose bumps," he said. "There was an energy. He radiated. I told myself, 'This man is worth following.' " The cardinals failed to select a new pope yesterday during their first round of voting -- evident by the black smoke that rose from a chimney above the...

Excerpt: In truth, though, this soft-spoken Bavarian, who was consecrated priest at age 24, "is not so much doctrinaire as he is committed to the truth and sound doctrine," a leading Protestant theologian told United Press International Friday. "He is arguably the Catholic Church's finest theologian, in addition to being a very humble and deeply religious man. "If he is to be the next pontiff, we may expect extraordinary surprises of him," said this scholar who knows Ratzinger well but asked to remain anonymous. One surprise may pertain to ecumenism and especially Eucharistic fellowship, Vatican observers said. While Ratzinger played...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 17, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is the last installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are scheduled to participate in the conclave to elect a new pope. The conclave begins Monday. * * * Jean-Louis Tauran, 62 Archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church Jean-Louis Tauran was born April 5, 1943, in Bordeaux, France. He was ordained a priest Sept. 20, 1969. He holds licentiates in philosophy and theology and a degree in canon law. He served as parochial vicar in Bordeaux. In March 1975 he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was...

VATICAN CITY - German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger defended Roman Catholic Church doctrine and condemned “the dictatorship of relativism” at Monday’s mass to pray for guidance in the election of the next pope.In his homily, Ratzinger, the dean of the College of Cardinals and a leading candidate for the papacy, said relativism “recognizes nothing definitive and its final measure is no more than ego and desire.”The 78-year-old cardinal pointed to “so many winds of doctrine that we have known in recent decades, so many ideological currents, so many ways of thinking,” including Marxism, liberalism, radical individualism, atheism and mysticism.He was speaking...

Today, at 10 AM local time, the College of Cardinals celebrated the Holy Mass for the Election of the Pope, prior to starting the Conclave, the process of papal election later on today. "Conclave" is a word of Latin origin, "con clave," which means "under key," in the sense of "under lock and key." It refers to the fact that Cardinals lock themselves in the Sistine Chapel in order to protect their independence as papal electors. The College of Cardinals, as you may know, is the modern incarnation of Rome's ancient Presbytery or Council of Priests, who in the past...

ROME, April 16 - There was never doubt that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's hard-line defender of the faith, would have a strong hand in selecting the next pope. But in the days of prayer and politics before the conclave, which begins on Monday, he has emerged as perhaps the surprise central figure: the man who could become the 265th pope, choose him or be the one other cardinals knock from the running. Any talk of who will become the next pope is guesswork, echoes from cardinals and their staffs sworn to silence about one of the world's most elite...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals started to move into sequestered lodgings Sunday ahead of a momentousconclave to elect the successor to Pope John Paul II. The 115 eligible cardinals will enter the secretive conclave in the Sistine Chapel Monday with no clear favorite to take over the reins of the 1.1 billion-member Church. Some of the red-hatted "princes of the church" held publicMasses around a rainswept Rome Sunday, refusing to speculate on the vote and underlining the spiritual nature of their quest. "People think that we are going to vote like in an election. But this is something...

Vatican City — Canada's Marc Cardinal Ouellet used his Sunday homily to rebuke Catholic political operatives who are spreading nasty rumours about his fellow cardinals in the mud-spattered papal election campaign. In his final public statement before the secret election begins Monday, Cardinal Ouellet reminded Roman Catholics that the conclave was supposed to be above the crass politics of the secular world. “The choice the cardinals are making is not a political act based on some human calculation,” Cardinal Ouellet told parishioners at the Holy Mary in Transpontina church near St. Peter's Square. “It's an act of faith, and profound...

Following Pope John Paul II's visit to the Middle East in 2000 and 2001, some prominent Muslim leaders openly discussed the future dominance of Islam in Europe, including conquesting the Vatican.  While the identity of the next pope is decided, one of the pressing issues he will have to deal with is the growing Muslim community in Europe, part of which have Islamist inclinations. As the New York Times reported this week, the next pope will be facing "increasing secularism in Europe, contrasting with the religious revival in the Islamic world … and the rising number of Muslim immigrants in...

The concept of communion is above all anchored in the holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, the reason why we still today in the language of the Church rightly designate the reception of this sacrament simply as “to communicate”. In this way, the very practical social significance of this sacramental event also immediately becomes evident, and this in a radical way that cannot be achieved in exclusively horizontal perspectives. Here we are told that by means of the sacrament we enter in a certain way into a communion with the blood of Jesus Christ, where blood according to the Hebrew perspective...

Rome, April 11 (Reuters): Maybe it describes the colour of his skin or place of birth. But the next Pope will be the “Olive” Pope, according to a 12th century prophecy that foresees just two remaining pontificates before the end of the world. The often-cited — and contested — prediction is attributed to St Malachy, an Irish archbishop recognised by members of the church for his ability to read the future and who was canonised more than 800 years ago. St Malachy was said to have had a vision during a trip to Rome around 1139 of the remaining 112...

CATHOLIC cardinals have destroyed the late Pope John Paul II's ring and seal in a symbolic end to his authority before secluding themselves from the world to elect his successor. The cardinals will begin their conclave this week, and the Vatican said smoke signals would pour from a chimney above the Sistine Chapel twice a day to tell the world whether or not a new pope had been elected. Overnight, the cardinals watched an ancient ritual marking the transition between two popes - the destruction of John Paul's Fisherman's Ring and his lead seal, two symbols of his authority. During...

Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt made a good observation in recent days. He said that "most of the American media is simply ignorant of the pope's critics on the right," namely those who reject the doctrinal developments and disciplinary reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly in regard to ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue and the vernacular Mass. I agree. The media often quotes Catholic liberals when covering events in the Church. Usually, it's done to show that some, or many, Catholics really don't agree with traditional Church teachings on abortion, contraception, euthanasia, homosexual activity and the male-only priesthood. The picture painted is...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The first message a new pope sends to the world is encoded in the name he chooses. If Roman Catholicism's next leader calls himself John Paul III, that would signal continuity. "John" would connote a gentle father while "Pius" could herald an era of deep conservatism. A name from the distant papal past -- improbable ones like Zephyrinus, Hilarus or Formosus -- would send Catholics scurrying to their history books to see what it could mean. The maxim "Nomen est omen" (Latin for "a name is a sign") is as valid today for popes as it...

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus Raymond Arroyo and I had Fr. Peter Gumpel on our EWTN broadcast last night. We thought that would make for an interesting ten-minute segment--but it turned into an utterly fascinating half hour. Gumpel is from an aristocratic Austrian family and has had personal encounters with popes going back to Pius XI. A "relator" (an independent judge) in the office dealing with the causes of saints, the Jesuit Gumpel has been working in Rome for more than 50 years. While he believes that John Paul II will be and should be declared a saint, he is strongly...

In church's dreams, Vatican II never happened April 13, 2005 BY ANDREW GREELEY The American TV networks spent huge sums of money and sent scores of people to Rome last week. Characteristically, they spent little time or energy on research and hence provided weak and stereotypical journalism, limited to questions about married priests, female priests, gays and sexual abuse. They missed completely the most critical issue for the church in the 21st century -- Vatican Council II and the changes it created. Many, if not most, of the cardinal electors would tell you that the council was an incident, a...

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Just days before Roman Catholic cardinals select a new pope, a human rights lawyer filed a criminal complaint against an Argentine mentioned as a possible contender, accusing him of involvement in the 1976 kidnappings of two priests. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio's spokesman on Saturday called the allegation "old slander." The complaint filed in a Buenos Aires court Friday by human rights lawyer Marcelo Parrilli accused Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires, of involvement in the kidnappings of two Jesuit priests by the military dictatorship, according to the Buenos Aires newspaper Clarin. The complaint does not specify Bergoglio's...

Juan Sandoval to Edmund Szoka VATICAN CITY, APRIL 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is another installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are eligible to have a role in electing the next pope. This list omits Cardinals Jaime Sin and Adolfo Suárez Rivera, who will not participate in the conclave for health reasons. * * * Juan Sandoval Íñiguez, 72 Archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico Juan Sandoval Íñiguez was born on March 28, 1933, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, to a family of 12. He entered the seminary in Guadalajara in 1945. He was sent to Rome in 1952 to...

VATICAN CITY, April 15 - For 455 years, the papacy passed uninterrupted from one Italian to another until the election of the Polish pope, John Paul II. Now, after 26 years, many Italians think it is time to get back in office - for fear that changes in the Roman Catholic Church may close the door on them for good. As 115 cardinals from 52 countries prepare to enter a conclave on Monday to select the next pope, some Vatican historians believe that the election of another foreigner will conclude a historic shift of power away from Italy. According to...

ROME, APRIL 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The 6,000 journalists, photographers and television cameramen who arrived in Rome to follow John Paul II's funeral and the start of the conclave, are all looking for the same thing: news. The enormous interest the world has to know how the cardinals are preparing for the election of the new pope is running up against the tight control of information on the part of the Vatican. Correspondents and special envoys walk up and down the two halls of the Vatican press office and around St. Peter's Square looking for something, anything. The cardinals are obliged...

Interview With Belgian Bishop André-Mutien Léonard BRUSSELS, Belgium, APRIL 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The legacy of John Paul II is not something to look back upon, but to use as a guide and inspiration for the future, says the bishop of Namur, Belgium. Bishop André-Mutien Léonard, philosophy professor the Catholic University of Leuven and member of the International Theological Commission, reflects in this interview with ZENIT on the person of John Paul II, and what expectations Catholics should have now with respect to the conclave. The bishop has dedicated most of his ministry to young people, and in 1999, he was...

VATICAN staff and clergy involved in the secret election of the next pope swore an oath today not to divulge any information on the proceedings. They swore and signed the oath in the Vatican's Hall of Benedictions in front of Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, who is in charge of the Church during the papal interregnum, and two other clerics. Under conclave rules established by the late Pope John Paul II in 1996, all clergy and lay people involved in auxiliary capacities during the conclave must sign the oath. They include doctors and nurses, technicians, kitchen and cleaning staff, confessors and...

SOWETO, South Africa - Mass is so crowded at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church that the parishioners spill out into the courtyard, where they huddle close to the doors to hear and be heard. Worship here is participatory and joyous, not a staid moral duty performed amid pomp and ritual beneath the stained glass of one of Europe's cavernous and magnificent cathedrals. The Catholic Church seems young, active and relevant, growing at a rate so explosive — with nearly 140 million Roman Catholics in Africa — that it's a vital part of today's Christian expansion. The next pope will inherit...

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Workers scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Friday and attached the chimney pipe that will bellow white smoke to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for next week's conclave. Attached by a safety clip and cable, a worker climbed down the tiled roof and uncapped a small top that had covered the chimney. He replaced it with a tall, thin pipe fed to him by another man in dress pants and a tie who was standing in an opening in the chapel's sloped roof....

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 14, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is another installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are eligible to have a role in electing the next pope. * * * Rodolfo Quezada Toruño, 73 Archbishop of Guatemala Rodolfo Quezada Toruño was born March 8, 1932, in Guatemala City, Guatemala. He was ordained a priest Sept. 21, 1956, and holds a doctorate in canon law. He has served as a parochial vicar and as a university chaplain as well as vice chancellor of the Archdiocese of Guatemala. He was the first rector of the National Major Seminary of the Assumption...

Progressives, Moderates, Neocons: Notes Before the Conclave On one side, Ratzinger, Ruini, Bergoglio, Scola with their proposal for a new "Papal Revolution." On the other side, the list of their opponents, with Tettamanzi as the man for all seasons ROMA, April 14, 2005 – On Tuesday, April 19, the first full day of the conclave which will elect the new pope, the feast in the calendar of the Roman Church is that of Saint Leo IX. He was pope between 1049 and 1054. He was a standard bearer of the great "Papal Revolution" which, at the beginning of the...

Conservatism rules Lincoln CatholicsLINCOLN, Neb. -- Many liberal Catholics hope the new pope will make changes in the centuries-old teachings of the Roman Catholic Church to fit the modern world, but not the faithful here in one of the most conservative dioceses in the country. ''The church shouldn't adapt to society changing; the church should stay as a rock," said Richard Danek, 51, a real estate appraiser who lives near Lincoln, an hour's drive southwest of Omaha. ''If the church adapts, then at what point do we stop adapting?" ''The Catholic Church is conservative. That's it. Period," said Katie Reese,...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 13, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is another installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are eligible to have a role in electing the next pope. * * * Miguel Obando Bravo, 79 Archbishop of Managua, Nicaragua Miguel Obando Bravo was born Feb. 2, 1926, in La Libertad, Nicaragua. After having attended the Salesian College of Granada he obtained a baccalaureate in Latin and Greek. In San Salvador he received a doctorate in mathematics, physics and philosophy. After entering the Salesians he studied theology in Guatemala and thereafter vocational psychology in Colombia, Venezuela and Rome. He was ordained...