Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] A Cardinal’s Surprising Confidences Cardinal Oscar Maradiaga and Pope Francis One of the cardinals who is part of the inner circle of the current Roman pontiff has just delivered a brief analysis of the main stages of a pontificate which seems more and more set up like an orchestration.Arturo Toscanini liked to say that there are two kinds of conductors: those who have the score in their head and those who have their head in the score.Cardinal Oscar R. Maradiaga – archbishop emeritus of Tegucigalpa and coordinator of the C9, the council of cardinals responsible for surrounding the...

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga is a man some say could be the next pope. But to Nicole Medina, he is also family — an "uncle," willing to take time out of a busy schedule to offer the Houston college student advice over the phone and help her younger brother work out a difficult passage on the saxophone. Reuters Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras has family, church and academic connections in Houston. . To Houston lawyer Terence O'Rourke, the cardinal is a colleague in the fight against the death penalty. He's also a friend who is not above sharing...

NPR.org, April 2, 2005 · "Tip O'Neill was correct," says Father Tom Reese, editor in chief of America, the Catholic weekly magazine. "All politics is local... even in the Catholic Church." Reese suggests that instead of focusing on the possible papal candidates as a bookie would look at horses in the starting gate, try to think about the election from the point of view of the electors, the cardinals who cast the votes. "Each cardinal is thinking, how will this candidate go over in my diocese?" Reese says. "If you're from the Third World, you're concerned with people who are...