President's Messages
Hans Kung Award
The most significant images of the last hours of the papacy of Benedict XVI in the images chosen by Antonella Gaetani.
Father Georg does not stand the excitement and bursts into tears
Monsignor Georg Gaenswein did not deter his emotion in the last hours of the pontificate of Benedict XVI and appeared visibly moved and in tears.
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Pope departs.
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Who's next?
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Habemus Datam - Conclave Starts Tuesday
Rocco Palmo Mar.8, 2013
25 days since Benedict XVI announced his resignation, eight days into this sede vacante,we finally have an election date: the Conclave will begin onTuesday, 12 March.
Related just before 6pm in Rome - an hour ahead of schedule - the decision by the College of Cardinals emerged toward the end of this fifth day of General Congregations, little more than 24 hours after the last of the 115 electors who'll participate arrived at the Vatican.
While the governing meetings - which have been attempting to shape the desired "profile" of the next Pope - will continue at least into tomorrow, the appointed day for the voting will begin with the Mass Pro Eligendo Pontifice (for the Election of the Roman Pontiff) concelebrated by all the cardinals at midmorning in St Peter's Basilica.
Then, late Tuesday afternoon, the electors will gather in the Pauline Chapel, processing from there into the Sistina as the Litany of the Saints is chanted.
Following the oath taken by each voter, the traditional "Extra omnes" - "Everybody out" - is sounded, the chapel's doors are locked, and the first ballot is taken; only then, as Cardinal Francis George of Chicago recently said, does "what everybody really thinks" become clear.
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Thomas Reese Mar.4 2013
As the cardinals meet in Rome, discussing the characteristics they are looking for in the next pope, a consensus is developing. They are looking for someone who can preach the Gospel in a way that is understandable and attractive to people in the 21st century.
For this preaching to be believable, the new pope must be a holy man who believes and lives what he preaches. He must also be a brilliant intellectual, like Popes John Paul and Benedict, who knows the tradition and theology of the church. But holiness and intelligence are not enough. He must be able to communicate. He must look holy and be able to explain the church's teaching to people of today in a language they understand. Finally, he must be a good manager and capable of reforming the Vatican bureaucracy.
In other words, they want Jesus Christ with an MBA.
The problem, of course, is that he died, rose from the dead, and left town to join the family business. Frankly, there is no one in the College of Cardinals that fits the job description. Jesus may have founded the church, but he left it to human beings to run.
. . . .
What should the cardinals do if they cannot find Jesus Christ with an MBA? At the time of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictine order, there was a monastery faced with a similar dilemma. They wrote St. Benedict, telling him that they were divided over who should be abbot. They had three candidates, each backed by a third of the community. There was a monk renowned for his holiness; another who was a brilliant theologian; and finally, a practical man. St. Benedict wrote back, "Let the holy man pray for the monks, let the theologian teach the monks, and let the practical man rule the monks." While the pope is not an abbot, perhaps there is some wisdom here.
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- Monday:Cardinals meet; Vatican gives no comment on Scottish scandal
- Tuesday: Vatican begins preparations for upcoming conclave
- Wednesday: In Benedict's shadow, cardinals discuss next pope
- Thursday: US prelates' silence shifts cardinals' focus to finance, national dispute
Brian Roewe Mar. 8, 2013
You just don't have to be in Rome anymore to know the moment there's a new pope.
The advent of radio and television allowed people to hear and see the news minutes after the smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel.
And now, of course, there's an app.
There are actually numerous apps, but one with a simple name is the Conclave mobile app. Created by Logos Bible Software, it offers instant access to the latest developments in Rome to the on-the-go, conclave curious.
Pam Cohen Mar. 8, 2013
Over the last few weeks, John L. Allen Jr. has been profiling cardinals who are frequently touted as papabile, or men who could be pope. These are the names drawing the most buzz in the lead-up to the conclave. Below are links, sorted by the cardinals' last name, to all of his papabili profiles. We will update this list as John writes more features, and don't forget to follow him on Twitter: @JohnLAllenJr.
Daniel J. Wakin Mar.2, 2013
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, who last week renounced what for nearly 600 years has been a lifelong office, will reverberate for years to come and could change the nature of the modern papacy, starting with the election of his successor.
Vatican experts and some church leaders said that Benedict's decision holds the potential to set limits for future popes, to make them more subject to pressure from critics and to feed the perception that they are not just spiritual leaders of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics but chief executives managing the vast multinational conglomerate that is the church, with its franchises around the globe and headquarters in the Vatican state.
. . . .
"Now that Benedict has resigned for health reasons, future popes can be suggested to resign for health or other reasons by their staff, by senior cardinals in the curia," said Nicholas P. Cafardi, a civil and canon lawyer and former dean of Duquesne University School of Law. "This time it was clearly Benedict's call, but that might not always be exactly the case in the future."
Some cardinals are said to favor lifetime appointments and will seek a promise that the next pope will not step down, the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Friday. The very suggestion indicates that Benedict's decision has divided church leaders.
But Cardinal Napier of South Africa rejected the possibility that fellow eminences might seek such a commitment. To do so would be an implicit criticism of Benedict's decision, he said - very bad form in papal circles. He also emphasized that he believed that Benedict's decision was motivated by his condition, not by the turbulence that dogged his papacy.
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John Cornwell Mar.3, 2013
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Resignation isn't in Benedict's vocabulary. The real reason he has quit is far more spectacular.
It is to save the Catholic Church from ignominy: he has voluntarily delivered himself up as a sacrificial lamb to purge the Church of what he calls 'The Filth'. And it must have taken courage.
Here is the remarkable thing you are seldom told about a papal death or resignation: every one of the senior office-holders in the Vatican - those at the highest level of its internal bureaucracy, called the Curia - loses his job.
A report Benedict himself commissioned into the state of the Curia landed on his desk in January. It revealed that 'The Filth' - or more specifically, the paedophile priest scandal - had entered the bureaucracy.
He resigned in early February. That report was a final straw. The Filth has been corroding the soul of the Catholic Church for years, and the reason is the power-grabbing ineptitude and secrecy of the Curia - which failed to deal with the perpetrators. Now the Curia itself stands accused of being part of The Filth.
Benedict realises the Curia must be reformed root and branch. He knows this is a mammoth task.
He is too old, and too implicated, to clean it up himself. He has resigned to make way for a younger, more dynamic successor, untainted by scandal - and a similarly recast Curia. Benedict was not prepared to wait for his own death to sweep out the gang who run the place.
In one extraordinary gesture, by resigning, he gets rid of the lot of them. But what then?
. . . . The timing of the report has coincided with fresh allegations of priestly sexual abuse in Germany. Meanwhile, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles and Cardinal Sean Brady of Ireland have been accused of covering up paedophile abuse.
. . . .
Bishops and lay Catholics throughout the world complain that the shift of authority away from Rome to the local churches has not happened. As a result, the absolute power of the Vatican has been corrupting absolutely.
The establishment of a large, over-powerful Curia is a quirk of history. When the Pope lost his papal territories, which stretched from Venice down to Naples, in the mid 19th Century, the civil service stayed on to run the Church from Rome.
. . . .
The coming conclave is set to be the most contentious for centuries. Whichever side wins - the conservatives, the reformers or the devolutionists - will create tensions and antagonism between Catholicism's different pressure groups.
. . . .
Benedict's stunning self-sacrifice constitutes, in my view, the greatest gamble in the papacy's 2,000-year history. If it works, the Church will begin to restore its besmirched reputation. If it fails, we Catholics are headed for calamitous conflict and fragmentation.
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Italian priest burns photo of Benedict during Mass
Reuters Mar.4, 2013
An Italian priest set fire to a photo of Pope Benedict during Sunday Mass in protest against his abdication, telling a shocked congregation that the former pontiff had abandoned his flock.
"It was wonderful," the Rev. Andrea Maggi from Santo Stefano Protomartire church in the small northern village of Castel Vittorio, told La Repubblica daily, defending his act.
He compared Benedict, who resigned as pope on Thursday, to Captain Francesco Schettino, who is accused of abandoning the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the Italian coast before all passengers were rescued.
Gian Stefano Orengo, mayor of the municipality in the northwestern Liguria region, told Italian radio the action had prompted half of the congregation to walk out.
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Discord Remains at Vatican as Pope Benedict Departs
Rachel Donadio Feb.28, 2013
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While Benedict, 85, retires to a life of prayer, study, walks in the garden and piano practice, he leaves in his wake a Vatican hierarchy facing scandals and intrigue that are casting a shadow over the cardinals entrusted with electing his successor in a conclave this month.
Even as he met with the cardinals on his final day as pope, pledging "unconditional reverence and obedience" to his successor and urging the cardinals to "work like an orchestra" harmonizing for the good of the church, the discord was apparent.
On Thursday, the Vatican confirmed reports that it had ordered wiretaps on the phones of some Vatican officials as part of a leaks investigation. Other cardinals were increasingly outspoken about the crisis of governance during Benedict's papacy.
. . . .The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Thursday that magistrates of the Vatican "might have authorized some wiretaps or some checks," but nothing on a significant scale.
Vatican watchers say the wiretapping was a shocking breach of trust and an indication of the high levels of distrust since the leaks scandal. But Father Lombardi dismissed that. The idea of "an investigation that creates an atmosphere of fear of mistrust that will now affect the conclave has no foundation in reality," he said.
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Cardinals want to be briefed on secret report
Philip Pullella Mar.4, 2013
Catholic cardinals in a closed-door meeting ahead of the election of a new pontiff want to be briefed on a secret report into leaks about alleged corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican, a senior source said on Monday.
More than 140 cardinals began preliminary meetings to sketch a profile for the next pope following the shock abdication of Pope Benedict last month and to ponder who among them might be best to lead a church beset by crises.
The meetings, called "general congregations," are open to cardinals regardless of age, although only those under 80 will later enter a conclave to elect a pope from among themselves.
The source, a prelate over 80 who was present at Monday's meetings, said the contents of the report came up during the morning session but declined to say if the requests to be briefed were made in the formal sessions or informal coffee break discussions or both.
The "who's who" of the new pope's electors
Sandro Magister Mar.5, 2013
Name by name, nation by nation, role by role, all of the cardinals who will enter into conclave. An indispensable guide for the event
Subtracting the two who have declined to take part in the conclave, the Scottish Keith Michael Patrick O'Brian and the Indonesian Jesuit Julius Darmaatmadja, the cardinals who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect the successor of Benedict XVI at the moment number 115.
Below they are listed by continent and by nation, with the place of activity of each one, the abbreviation of any religious order of membership, the date of birth and the indication of the pope who conferred the scarlet on them, John Paul II (JP-II) or Benedict XVI (B-XVI).
Followed by further documentation of their roles and backgrounds.
EUROPE - 60 cardinals (37 B-XVI and 23 JP-II)
Italy - 28 (20 B-XVI and 8 JP-II)
AMATO Angelo S.D.B, curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
ANTONELLI Ennio, ex curia, 1936 (JP-II)
BAGNASCO Angelo, abp. Genova, 1943 (B-XVI)
BERTELLO Giuseppe, curia, 1942 (B-XVI)
BERTONE Tarcisio S.D.B, curia, 1934 (JP-II)
BETORI Giuseppe, abp. Firenze, 1947 (B-XVI)
CAFFARRA Carlo, abp. Bologna, 1938 (B-XVI)
CALCAGNO Domenico, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)
COCCOPALMERIO Francesco, curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
COMASTRI Angelo, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)
DE PAOLIS Velasio C.S., ex curia, 1935 (B-XVI)
FARINA Raffaele S.D.B, ex curia, 1933 (B-XVI)
FILONI Fernando, curia, 1946 (B-XVI)
LAJOLO Giovanni, ex curia, 1935 (B-XVI)
MONTERISI Francesco, ex curia, 1934 (B-XVI)
NICORA Attilio, curia, 1937 (JP-II)
PIACENZA Mauro, curia, 1944 (B-XVI)
POLETTO Severino, abp. em. Torino, 1933 (JP-II)
RAVASI Gianfranco, curia, 1942 (B-XVI)
RE Giovanni Battista, ex curia, 1934 (JP-II)
ROMEO Paolo, abp. Palermo, 1938 (B-XVI)
SARDI Paolo, ex curia, 1934 (B-XVI)
SCOLA Angelo, abp. Milano, 1941 (JP-II)
SEPE Crescenzio, abp. Napoli, 1943 (JP-II)
TETTAMANZI Dionigi, abp. em. Milano, 1934 (JP-II)
VALLINI Agostino, Rome vicar general, 1940 (B-XVI)
VEGLIO' Antonio M., curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
VERSALDI Giuseppe, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)
Germany - 6 (3 B-XVI and 3 JP-II)
CORDES Paul Josef, ex curia, 1934 (B-XVI)
KASPER Walter, ex curia, 1933 (JP-II)
LEHMANN Karl, bishop Mainz, 1936 (JP-II)
MARX Reinhard, abp. Munich, 1953 (B-XVI)
MEISNER Joachim, abp. Cologne, 1933 (JP-II)
WOELKI Rainer M., abp. Berlin, 1956 (B-XVI)
Spain - 5 (3 B-XVI and 2 JP-II)
ABRIL Y CASTELLÓ Santos, curia, 1935 (B-XVI)
AMIGO VALLEJO Carlos O.F.M., abp. em. Seville, 1934 (JP-II)
CAÑIZARES LLOVERA Antonio, curia, 1945 (B-XVI)
MARTÍNEZ SISTACH Lluís, abp. Barcelona,1937 (B-XVI)
ROUCO VARELA Antonio María, abp. Madrid, 1936 (JP-II)
France - 4 (2 B-XVI and 2 JP-II)
BARBARIN Philippe, abp. Lyon, 1950 (JP-II)
RICARD Jean-Pierre, abp. Bordeaux, 1944 (B-XVI)
TAURAN Jean-Louis, curia, 1943 (JP-II)
VINGT-TROIS André, abp. Paris, 1942 (B-XVI)
Poland - 4 (3 B-XVI and 1 JP-II)
DZIWISZ Stanislaw, abp. Krakow, 1939 (B-XVI)
GROCHOLEWSKI Zenon, curia, 1939 (JP-II)
NYCZ Kazimierz, abp. Warsaw, 1950 (B-XVI)
RYLKO Stanislaw, curia, 1945 (B-XVI)
Portugal - 2 (1 B-XVI and 1 JP-II)
MONTEIRO DE CASTRO Manuel, curia, 1938 (B-XVI)
POLICARPO José da Cruz, patriarch Lisbon, 1936 (JP-II)
Other Europe - 11 (5 B-XVI and 6 JP-II
BACKIS Audrys Juozas, abp. Vilnius, Lithuania, 1937 (JP-II)
BOZANIC Josip, abp. Zagabria, Croatia, 1949 (JP-II)
BRADY Sean Baptist, abp, Armagh, Ireland, 1939 (B-XVI)
DANNEELS Godfried, abp. em. Brussels, Belgium, 1933 (JP-II)
DUKA Dominik op, abp. Prague, Czech Republic, 1943 (B-XVI)
EIJK Willem Jacobus, abp. Utrecht, Holland, 1953 (B-XVI)
ERD? Peter, abp. Esztergom, Hungary, 1952 (JP-II)
KOCH Kurt, curia, Switzerland, 1950 (B-XVI)
PULJIC Vinko, abp. Vrhbosna-Sarajevo, Bosnia, 1945 (JP-II)
RODÉ Franc cm, ex curia, Slovenia, 1934 (B-XVI)
SCHÖNBORN Christoph O.P., abp. Vienna, Austria, 1945 (JP-II)
AMERICAS - 33 (17 B-XVI and 16 JP-II)
Latin AMERICA - 19 (8 B-XVI and 11 JP-II)
Brazil - 5 (3B-XVI and 2 JP-II)
AGNELO Geraldo Majella, abp. em. São Salvador da Bahia, 1933 (JP-II)
BRAZ DE AVIZ Joao, curia, 1947 (B-XVI)
DAMASCENO ASSIS Raymundo, abp. Aparecida, 1937 (B-XVI)
HUMMES Cláudio O.F.M., ex curia, 1934 (JP-II)
SCHERER Odilo Pablo, abp. São Paulo, 1949 (B-XVI)
Mexico - 3 (1 B-XVI and 2 JP-II)
RIVERA CARRERA Norberto, abp. Mexico, 1942 (JP-II)
SANDOVAL IÑIGUEZ Juan, abp. em. Guadalajara, 1933 (JP-II)
ROBLES ORTEGA Francisco, abp Guadalajara, 1949 (B-XVI)
Argentina - 2 (1 B-XVI and 1 JP-II)
BERGOGLIO Jorge Mario S.J., abp. Buenos Aires, 1936 (JP-II)
SANDRI Leonardo, curia, 1943 (B-XVI)
Other Latin America - 9 (3 B-XVI and 6 JP-II)
CIPRIANI THORNE Juan Luis, Opus Dei, abp. Lima, Perù, 1943 (JP-II)
ERRAZURIZ OSSA Francisco J., Schönstatt, abp. em. Santiago, Chile, 1933 (JP-II)
LOPEZ-RODRIGUEZ Nicolas de Jesus, abp. Santo Domingo, 1936 (JP-II)
ORTEGA Y ALAMINO Jaime Lucas, abp. Havana, Cuba, 1936 (JP-II)
RODRIGUEZ MARADIAGA Oscar A. S.D.B, abp. Tegucigalpa, Honduras, 1942 (JP-II)
SALAZAR GOMEZ Ruben, abp. Bogotà, Colombia, 1942 (B-XVI)
TERRAZAS SANDOVAL Julio C.Ss.R., abp. Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 1936 (JP-II)
UROSA SAVINO Jorge Liberato, abp. Caracas, Venezuela, 1942 (B-XVI)
VELA CHIRIBOGA Raul Eduardo, abp. em. Quito, Ecuador, 1934 (B-XVI)
NORTH AMERICA - 14 (9 B-XVI and 5 JP-II)
United States - 11 (8 B-XVI and 3 JP-II
BURKE Raymond Leo, curia, 1948 (B-XVI)
DINARDO Daniel Nicholas, abp. Galveston-Houston, 1949 (B-XVI)
DOLAN Timothy Michael, abp. New York, 1950 (B-XVI)
GEORGE Eugene Francis O.M.I., abp. Chicago, 1937 (JP-II)
HARVEY James Michael, curia, 1949 (B-XVI)
LEVADA William Joseph, ex curia, 1936 (B-XVI)
MAHONY Roger Michael, abp. em. Los Angeles, 1936 (JP-II)
O'BRIEN Edwin Frederick, curia, 1939 (B-XVI)
O'MALLEY Sean Patrick O.F.M. Cap., abp. Boston, 1944 (B-XVI)
RIGALI Justin Francis, abp. em. Philadelphia, 1935 (JP-II)
WUERL Donald William, abp. Washington DC, 1940 (B-XVI)
Canada - 3 (1 B-XVI and 2 JP-II
COLLINS Thomas Christopher, abp. Toronto, 1947 (B-XVI)
OUELLET Marc P.S.S., curia, 1944 (JP-II)
TURCOTTE Jean-Claude, abp. em. Montreal, 1936 (JP-II)
AFRICA - 11 (6 B-XVI and 5 JP-II)
Nigeria - 2 (1 B-XVI and 1 JP-II)
OKOGIE Anthony Olubunmi, abp. Lagos, 1936 (JP-II)
ONAIYEKAN John Olorunfemi, abp. Abuja, 1944 (B-XVI)
Other Africa - 9 (5 B-XVI and 4 JP-II)
MONSENGWO PASINYA Laurent, abp. Kinshasa, RD Congo, 1939 (B-XVI)
NAGUIB Antonios, patriarch em. Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt, 1935 (B-XVI)
NAPIER Wilfrid Fox O.F.M., abp. Durban, South Africa, 1941 (JP-II)
NJUE John, abp. Nairobi, Kenya, 1944 (B-XVI)
PENGO Polycarp, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 1944 (JP-II)
SARAH Robert, curia, Guinea, 1945 (B-XVI)
SARR Theodore-Adrien, abp. Dakar, Senegal, 1936 (B-XVI)
TURKSON Peter Kodwo Appiah, abp. Cape Coast, Ghana, 1948 (JP-II)
ZUBEIR WAKO Gabriel, abp. Khartoum, Sudan, 1941 (JP-II)
ASIA - 10 (7 B-XVI and 3 JP-II)
India - 5 (3 BVI and 2 (JP-II)
ALENCHERRY George, maj. abp. Ernakulam of the Malankars, 1945 (B-XVI)
DIAS Ivan, ex curia, 1936 (JP-II)
GRACIAS Oswald, abp. Bombay, 1944 (B-XVI)
THOTTUNKAL Baselios Cleemis, maj. abp. Trivandrum of the Malankars, 1959 (B-XVI)
TOPPO Telesphore Placidus, abp. Ranchi, 1939 (JP-II)
Other Asia - 5 (4 B-XVI and 1 JP-II)
PATABENDIGE DON A. M. Ranjith, abp. Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1947 (B-XVI)
PHAM MINH MAN Jean-Baptiste, abp. Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, 1934 (JP-II)
RAI Bechara Boutros, patriarch Antioch of the Maronites, Lebanon, 1940 (B-XVI)
TAGLE Luis Antonio, abp. Manila, Philippines, 1957 (B-XVI)
TONG HON John, bishop Hong Kong, China, 1939 (B-XVI)
OCEANIA - 1 (JP-II) PELL George, abp. Sydney, Australia, 1941 (JP-II)
Able to participate not at the conclave but at the general congregations that precede it are the cardinals over the age of eighty. At the beginning of the sede vacante there were 90 of them, 52 of them European (21 Italians), 11 Latin Americans (4 Brazilians), 8 North Americans (all from the United States), 9 Asians, 7 Africans, and 3 from Oceania.
A curiosity: also entering the conclave will be German cardinal Kasper, who turned eighty on March 4. Under the regulations previous to those issued by John Paul II in 1996, he would not have been admitted.
There are 19 cardinals belonging to religious orders who will participate in the conclave (15 are over the age of eighty).
The most numerous are the Salesians, with 4 cardinals: Amato, Bertone, Farina, Rodriguez Maradiaga. The Franciscan friars minor follow with 3: Amigo Vallejo, Hummes, Napier. The Dominicans have 2: Schonborn and Duka. With only one cardinal are the Jesuits (Bergoglio), the Vincentians (Rodé), the Redemptorists (Terrazas), the Capuchins (O'Malley), the Oblates (George), the Sulpicians (Ouellet), and the members of the Schönstatt Institute (Errazuriz Ossa).
The college of the pope's electors also includes a member of Opus Dei (Cipriani Thorne), an historic representative of Communion of Liberation (Scola), and at least a pair of friends of the Focolare movement (Antonelli and Braz de Aviz). Strongly sympathetic toward the Neocatecumenals are Filoni, Cordes, and Cañizares. Dias is close to the charismatic movement.
There are 40 cardinal electors who are working or have finished their ecclesiastical "cursus honorum" in the curia or in other Roman offices.
The Italians are 19, of whom 13 are active (Amato, Bertello, Bertone, Calcagno, Coccopalmerio, Comastri, Filoni, Nicora, Piacenza, Ravasi, Sardi, Vegliò, and Versaldi) and 6 in retirement (Antonelli, De Paolis, Farina, Lajolo, Monterisi, Re).
The cardinals from the United States are 4 (3 of them active - Burke, Harvey, and O'Brien - and the retired Levada). The Spanish are 2 (Cañizares, Abril y Castelló) and the same for the Polish (Grocholewski and Rylko), all of them active. There are also 2 Germans, but both of them in retirement: Cordes and Kasper.
From Latin America come the Argentine Sandri and the Brazilian Braz de Aviz (active) and the other Brazilian Hummus (retired).
From Europe come the French Tauran, the Portuguese Monteiro, and the Swiss Koch - all of them active - and the retired Rodé, Slovenian.
The African members of the curia, active, are the Ghanaian Turkson and the Guinean Sarah. Also an active member of the curia is the Canadian Ouellet, while the Indian Dias is retired.
Of these 40, half have pastoral experience as bishops: Antonelli, Bertone, Calcagno, Coccopalmerio, Comastri, Nicora, Versaldi, Kasper, Rodé, Canizares Llovera, Koch, Hummes, Braz de Aviz, Burke, Levada, O'Brien, Ouellet, Dias, Turkson, and Sarah.
While among the cardinals now at the head of a diocese who have previously had positions of responsibility in the Vatican are Sepe, Vallini, Dziwisz, Backis, Agnelo, Hummes, Errazuriz Ossa, Rigali, and Patabendige Don. Scherer, Wuerl and DiNardo have also long worked in the curia, but as officials.
Finally, here are the 16 cardinal electors who come from pontifical diplomacy. They are: Bertello, Filoni, Lajolo, Monterisi, Re, Romeo, Sepe, Vegliò, Tauran, Abril y Castelló, Monteiro de Castro, Backis, Sandri, Harvey, Rigali, Dias.
Cardinal Sardi moreover, although he did not attend the ecclesiastical pontifical academy, acquired the qualification of apostolic nuncio, with the connected benefits, when as the head of the office of pontifical "ghost writers" he was promoted to archbishop by John Paul II.
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English translation by Matthew Sherry, Ballwin, Missouri, U.S.A.
If anyone was worrying about Joseph Ratzinger's (Benedict XVI-emeritus) influence on the conclave and the church going forward, take a gander at the criticism (and damning with faint praise)Â arising from all quarters. Off the record, and sometimes on, the criticism of Benedict's nearly 8-year tenure is loud and clear, and it focuses on one big failure: governance.
The Vatican, it seems, is in shambles, torn by infighting that is now being exposed like so much dirty ecclesiastical laundry.
. . . .Pope John Paul II eviscertated the authority of the national and regional conferences of bishops, and the international synods of bishops are universally criticized as farces run by the Roman Curia. A new pope, with one stroke of the pen, could reverse this curial and papal absolutism, which is both directly contrary to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and a profound novelty in the history of the church. On this the scholars of "rupture" and "continuity" of the council could well agree. Such a change would require absolutely no modification in doctrine.
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Ralph Napierski, left, a fake bishop poses with cardinal Sergio Sebiastiana as the cardinal arrives for talks ahead of the conclave
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Ralph Napierski, a self-appointed bishop from an apparently fictional order called Corpus Dei, managed to get through a checkpoint manned by Swiss Guards but was stopped before entering the Paul VI Hall, where the cardinals were gathering.
Dressed in fake bishop's vestments, complete with a purple sash, Mr Napierski smiled to photographers as he mixed with more than 140 cardinals from around the world as they filed into the hall to discuss the challenges facing the Church and possible "papabili" or papal candidates.
The word"conclave" turns on the Latin word for "key," and that is surely what the Catholic cardinals hope to find this week: a quick way out of the shuttered Sistine Chapel where they must elect a new pope. Yet because of their malfeasance, and that of their predecessors, the church itself is now locked up - not in the opulent chamber where the papal balloting unfolds, but in a dungeon of deceit, hypocrisy, and corruption.
It wasn't the resignation of Benedict XVI that threw the church into its present institutional turmoil. But the pope's surprising decision laid bare the depth of the problem.
. . . .
By focusing global attention on the men who will choose the next pope, Benedict's resignation is revealing the extent of a catastrophic moral collapse. The question is whether the cardinals gathered in the locked room have it in them to see what really imprisons the church.
The next pope will preside over an urgent attempt to recover from these scandals, but keeping the issues locked up will no longer work. Church teachings on sex (the end of mandatory celibacy), and gender equality (not only contraception, but the ordination of women) must be up for discussion. The day of reckoning is at hand.
One of the domain names of a website that is the primary source of information on clergy sex abuse cases has been blocked on the Vatican's web servers.
Users on Vatican servers who try to access one of the four web addresses for Bishopaccountability.org which tracks publicly available information on clergy accused of abuse, are told the page has been blocked because of "Hate/Racism."
. . . .
The access error comes when users attempt to access the site fromwww.bishopaccountability.org. Three other variations of the site's name - bishopaccountability.org, bishop-accountability.org, and www.bishop-accountability.org - are accessible.
The College of Cardinals that will elect the next pope cut off formal communications with the news media on Wednesday after their private deliberations emerged in the Italian press, raising the specter of a leaking scandal that cast a pall over the last year in office of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Concern was expressed in the General Congregation about leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers," said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who has organized news conferences with American cardinals in recent days. "As a precaution, the cardinals have agreed not to do interviews."
Members of the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests are asking for prayers during the process of selecting a new pope. In a statement released March 4, the AUSCP called for prayers and committed its membership "to work and pray with all members of the faithful for the renewal of our Church which is at the same time, both beautiful and flawed."
The statement on behalf of the 900-plus members was issued by Father David Cooper, a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee who serves as chairman of the AUSCP board.
"Our beloved Church constantly seeks both continuity and renewal," Cooper said. "As the cardinals gather in Rome to elect a new pontiff, we pray with them for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we ask all members of the faithful to join together, 'united in the same mind and the same purpose.'"
It would be entirely understandable if Benedict XVI wanted "business as usual" signs to go up at the Vatican as soon as possible after his retirement, and for the new man in charge to carry on the good work of the old though perhaps with extra energy. What is emerging is something rather different - a growing groundswell of conviction, apparently at all levels in the Catholic Church, that things cannot go on as they are.
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But the most significant crisis in the Church is the breakdown in koinonia - love, trust and fellowship - between the hierarchy on one hand, and priests and people on the other. If the leaders of the Church are not careful, the laity could desert in droves. A retreat could accelerate into a rout.
The major question facing the forthcoming conclave is how to turn round this collapse of confidence before it is too late. And that demands a far-reaching reform of structures, including giving the laity the right to participate in church decision-making. Yet even the tentative proposal for diocesan pastoral councils contained in Vatican II's decree Christus Dominus has been widely ignored. The Vatican is not interested. The laity, it has clearly decided, is not to be trusted. It has to be said, the feeling has become mutual.
The profound crisis of church governance is far more serious than a few personality clashes among members of the Vatican Curia which could be sorted out by some job reshuffles and early retirements. The root of the problem is structural, not personal. An institution with 1.2 billion members all over the globe cannot be run by what is essentially an unreformed Renaissance monarchy and its elderly cosseted courtiers.
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The Roman Catholic Church must open itself up to women in the next pontificate, giving them more leadership positions in the Vatican and beyond, according to Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, a senior cardinal who will be influential in electing the next pope.
In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Cardinal Sandri, 69, an Argentine, also said the next pope should not be chosen according to a geographic area but must be a "saintly man" qualified to lead the Church in a time of crisis.
. . . ."The role of women in the world has increased and this is something the Church has to ask itself about," Sandri said in his office just outside St Peter's Square where he heads the Vatican department for Eastern Catholic Churches.
"They must have a much more important role in the life of the Church ... so that they can contribute to Church life in so many areas which are now, in part, open only to men ... This will be a challenge for us in the future."
The German bishops last week devoted a day of their three-day plenary to the question of how they can promote the role of women in the Church.
Participants in the discussion concluded it was imperative to boost the role of women, especially in the Church's decision-making bodies.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz called for a "convincing job profile for women that also requires a sacramental blessing and a liturgical ceremony for a binding commitment".
The former president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Walter Kasper, suggested creating a new diaconal office for women.
Michael O'Malley, Mar.6, 2013
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Father Marrone issued a statement late Wednesday that effectively defies a church issued excommunication decree.
"I will continue to serve the Community of St. Peter as long as they call me to do so and and as long as I am able to fulfill the responsibilities of the work entrusted to me," said Father Marrone.
Father Marrone said he must "follow his conscience" relating to his involvement with his new congregation.
"The recent action of the Diocese of Cleveland reflects the continuous pattern which has marked the process of clustering, consolidation, closing, suppressions and reopening of parishes," said Marrone.
He called it a "privilege" to be called to serve with his new church and said he was "grateful to be a part of the Community of St. Peter and members who have "shown courage and commitment through this long and difficult journey".
Parishioners contacted by NewsChannel5 said they were "disappointed" and "saddened" by the decision but expect worship services will continue.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who was forced to resign by the pope last week, has made a dramatic admission that he was guilty of sexual misconduct throughout his career in the Roman Catholic church.
In a short but far-reaching statement issued late on Sunday, the 74-year-old stated that "there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal".
The former archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, and until recently the most senior Catholic in Britain, apologised and asked for forgiveness from those he had "offended" and from the entire church.
O'Brien was forced to resign last week by Pope Benedict XVI, barely 36 hours after the Observer disclosed that three serving priests and a former priest were accusing him of "inappropriate acts" against them nearly 30 years ago, in a formal complaint to the pope's ambassador to the UK.
The cardinal had "contested" those allegations, while his officials said he was taking legal advice.
But now O'Brien has effectively admitted he had been breaching the church's strict rules on celibacy and its bar on homosexuality since he became a priest - and during his 10 years as a cardinal.
The zenith of the ecclesiastical career of Keith O'Brien took place amid the sunshine of St Peter's Square when, in the autumn of 2003, he was presented with the red beretta of a cardinal, so coloured to reflect his new vow to shed his blood for the good of the Catholic Church.
In a public display which other cardinals were said to have considered unbecoming he brandished a saltire with the enthusiasm of a football fan at Hampden to the delight of photographers whose pictures ran on the front page of newspapers around the world.
In the nadir of the ecclesiastical career of Keith O'Brien he returns once again to the front pages, not as a vision of joyous Catholic scotia, but of an old man crushed by cardinal sins.
How can Catholics come to terms with the janus faced leader of the Catholic Church: the cardinal who described gay marriage as a "grotesque subversion" in the knowledge that his own sexual conduct had "fallen below the standards" expected of a priest.
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow and apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, makes reference to the Cardinal's demise as he celebrates mass at St Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow at a pre-scheduled service.
In his sermon, he says: "This is a sad moment for the Church in our country. The events around Cardinal O'Brien, his resignation, his statement of yesterday, have left us all very sad for everyone involved and for the Church.
"Many reproaches have been aimed at the Church and at individuals over this matter. The most stinging charge which has been levelled against us in this matter is hypocrisy, and for obvious reasons.
"I think there is little doubt that the credibility and moral authority of the Catholic Church in Scotland has been dealt a serious blow, and we will need to come to terms with that."
Cardinal Keith O'Brien threatened to report a victim of clerical sexual abuse to the police as a "blackmailer", according to the man who had been abused.
"Michael X", who received £42,000 granted by the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in 1990 following his traumatic experiences, said yesterday that when he insisted Father Desmond Lynagh, who had abused him while he was a 14-year-old junior seminarian at Blairs in Aberdeen in the 1970s, should be sent away for counselling and no longer minister to children and young people, the archbishop had threatened him with the police.
In an exclusive interview with The Scotsman, Mr X said: "He then stood up. I remember he was wearing a black soutane with his pectoral cross and he said, 'Do you know who I am? Nobody tells me what to do. If you go to the police then I will tell then that you are trying to blackmail me'."
He went on: "I said that if I went to the police then I'd be frightened, but I would tell them that I was trying to force him to keep a sex offender out of circulation. I would tell them what I was doing and I would be ready to go to prison if I had to."
At the end of the meeting, when Mr X repeated his threat to report Lynagh to the authorities unless he was sent for counselling, he recalled the archbishop "leaned forward towards me and I could feel his breath on my collar and he said, 'You are just another abused child. No-one will believe you'. I have no reason to exaggerate. That is what he told me".
Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and potential successor to Pope Benedict XVI, played a role in the resignation of Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who admitted Sunday of having engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour.
According to reports from the Telegraph, the Vatican knew for over five months that four men, three priests and a former priest had accused Keith O'Brien for having made sexual advances. A fifth man, a priest, would later join them, making similar allegations against the former Primate of Scotland.
O'Brien announced in late-February that he resigned as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and made his mea culpa Sunday, admitting that his "sexual conduct" was well below the expected standards of a priest.
According to the report from the Telegraph, The Vatican has said O'Brien had tendered his resignation around November last year, adding that it suggests that the Vatican has entered into an agreement months ago with the cardinal to resign quietly so as not to embarrass the Church.
The cost must also include the loss of truth.
The last major act, Archbishop Jose Gomez's meaningless censure of Mahony and Mahony's whining retort on his blog, is all about them and not about the real core of this almost incredible decade of events. At the heart of it all are the victims of Los Angeles priests, several hundred men and women. Yet the legal battle that went on and on not only overlooked them but continued to heap pain on their already scarred souls.
The media could not possibly recount the massive toll this took on so many people. The price of Mahony's red hat is certainly steep in dollars. He retained an army of expensive lawyers to defend his intentional mishandling of reports of sexual abuse, and then to create legal roadblocks to the disclosure of the culprits' files. The real cost of his hat was in people.
There were 508 victim/survivors as plaintiffs in the cases that eventually were settled in 2007 for $660 million. They had been put through agony during the months and years they were manipulated, lied to and revictimized before any of them went to court. . . . .
. . . . Whenever the cardinal appeared for a deposition or meeting involving the cases, at least six and often 10 lawyers accompanied him. Who paid the legal fees? The "people of God" of the Los Angeles archdiocese. Who else?
How many of these people of God could have benefitted from the money diverted to the lawyers and to the public relations firm as well? We will never know.
The process took its toll not only on the victims but on their lawyers, all of whom were working on contingency, which meant they were looking at financial doom if the whole venture fell through. They worked far above and beyond what was required for what they earned. Some were so disgusted with the never-ending antics of the church in court and at the mediation table that they left the practice of law when it was all over. A number who had at one time been practicing Catholics lost all respect and trust in the institutional church. One lawyer spoke up at a gathering after the settlement and said, "I don't believe in God anymore."
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From the papacy on down, the Los Angeles abuse history is marked only by narcissistic efforts to save a terminally shattered image. There is little doubt that Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor knew the score in the archdiocese. Unconfirmed reports say Vatican representatives were in on the settlement negotiations. After all, $660 million is not small potatoes even to the Vatican.
How much is the cardinal's hat worth and who paid the bill? In the end the dollar costs are astronomical but pale by comparison to the costs incurred by the people of God who have paid the price of this colossal betrayal with their faith.
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Roman Catholics in the United States say that their church and bishops are out of touch, and that the next pope should lead the church in a more modern direction on issues like birth control and ordaining women and married men as priests, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Seven out of 10 say Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican have done a poor job of handling sexual abuse, a significant rise from three years ago. A majority said that the issue had led them to question the Vatican's authority. The sexual abuse of children by priests is the largest problem facing the church, Catholics in the poll said.
Three-fourths of those polled said they thought it was a good idea for Benedict to resign. Most wanted the next pope to be "someone younger, with new ideas." A majority said they wanted the next pope to make the church's teachings more liberal.
With cardinals now in Rome preparing to elect Benedict's successor, the poll indicated that the church's hierarchy had lost the confidence and allegiance of many American Catholics, an intensification of a long-term trend. They like their priests and nuns, but many feel that the bishops and cardinals do not understand their lives.
Five key Catholic bishops are opposing the newly authorized Violence Against Women Act for fear it will subvert traditional views of marriage and gender, and compromise the religious freedom of groups that aid victims of human trafficking.
The act, which was signed into law by President Obama on Thursday (March 7), is intended to protect women from domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking, and allows the federal government to spend money to treat victims and prosecute offenders.
But for the first time since the original act became law in 1994, it spells out that no person may be excluded from the law's protections because of "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" - specifically covering lesbian, transgender and bisexual women.
That language disturbs several bishops who head key committees within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that deal with, among other issues, marriage, the laity, youth and religious liberty.
"These two classifications are unnecessary to establish the just protections due to all persons. They undermine the meaning and importance of sexual difference," the bishops said in a statement released by the USCCB on Wednesday.
Walter Szylwian, a 96-year-old altar boy and protestor, unplugged Bishop Richard Lennon's microphone in 2009 during a closing Mass at St. Casimir Catholic Church.
Last November, Szylwian was the first worshipper to get communion from Lennon at the reopened church.
Ten days after turning 100, Szylwian died Feb. 20 at Broadview Multi-Care Center.
"Walter bore no grudge," said another St. Casimir activist, Joe Feckanin. "His actions have made this humble man a legend... He re-energized us and showed courage and faith."
On Szylwian's 100th birthday, the church bulletin called him as "a true Saint Casimir hero" and "a kind, steady, faithful and helpful presence spanning the decades."
My Life As Pope
Raymond A. Schroth Feb.28 2013
I want to get this into print before the cardinals go into the conclave, because this might help them in their decisions.
Last night I stayed up late reading Karl Rahner's 1984 essay "Dream of the Church," in which he is allowed to eavesdrop on a Vatican ecumenical meeting during which the pope assures our non-Catholic brethren that in the future the pope will be much more consultative before making infallible statements.
Rahner is heavy work, and he got me so wound-up that I needed to relax by replaying one of my favorite 1930s films, "The Prisoner of Zenda." Here Ronald Coleman, a British gentleman deer-hunting in the forests of Slyvania, is accosted by two ambassadors who inform him that the Crown Prince of Slyvania, scheduled to be crowned the next day, had been kidnapped by brigands. Because Coleman looks just like the Prince, they implore him to be crowned king in his place and serve until the real king can be rescued. Because he is a gentleman, Coleman agrees, and following a magnificent sword duel with the villain Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., order is restored.
The next thing I remember is that I was in Rome, on a Vatican side street, when two men in black blindfolded me and dragged me to the Sistine Chapel where the new pope Cardinal Blifskitz of Waydownia had just been elected; but the news had thrown him into coma and he was now held in a secret room under medical care. But a million believers were assembled in St. Peter's Square waiting for his appearance. They said that I looked just like him, and if I refused to play his role I would be sinning against the Holy Spirit, which is as bad as you can get. What could I say? They added one condition: I was in no circumstances to say anything infallible. I agreed; but if I was going to be pope I was also going to be myself.
So rather than dress up and wave from the window, I went down onto the front steps of St. Peter's in my Land's End blue jeans, blue shirt and Fordham tie, introduced myself as Pope Luke, because his Gospel best reflected my priorities: sharing the wealth, loving both our neighbors and strangers, and giving women power. I declared that the Third Vatican Council would open in a year, that the College of Cardinals would become two thirds laymen and women from all over the world, that silenced theologians were free to speak, and that priests who found the previous Mass translations more pastoral and prayerful were free to use them. I then circulated through the crowd shaking hands and invited people to a picnic of hot dogs, pasta carbonara, shrimp friend rice and paella after the Mass.
For the Mass there was no crown, no mitre, no long robes, no gold ring; the choir sang Mozart, Bach and "It's Me O Lord, Standing In The Need of Prayer." I reshuffled the curia with more laypersons, men and women, and set up commissions to prepare the Council's agenda: meeting the needs of the poor by the re-distribution of resources and wealth; raising the quality of Catholic intellectual life; the fuller participation of women in the life and governance of the church. For the first four months I traveled one week each month, with only three or four aides, staying in rectories or religious houses in city neighborhoods. There would be no Yankee Stadium-like appearances, but I took afternoon walks in parks and talked to anyone who joined us. Then I used the media for open-ended discussions on news programs.
On summer weekends, when I got away to Castel Gandolfo and did a few laps in the pool or biked down to the sea coast to hit the waves, as I had done years before with a Jesuit friend, I got an idea. I decided to resign, I was still in good shape, but I was old. And I was tempted to make just one infallible proclamation. Nothing controversial, something everyone, particularly my generation, might enjoy. I would solemnly declare that Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Leonard Warren and Lily Pons were all in heaven singing in the choir; and I was pretty sure the Holy Spirit would go along.
Then suddenly it happened. The door of my office opened, and there was His Holiness Cardinal Blifskitz of Waydown looking tall and fit and a little bit like me. He had recovered, he said, and thanked me for all I had done, and assured me those were the very changes he had planned to make himself. And that the four Swiss Guards accompanying him would drive me immediately to the airport.
And then I woke up.
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Fourth Sunday of Lent: Rejoice!
Laetare, Jerusalem:
Rejoice, Jerusalem:
et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam:
and come together all you that love her:
gaudete cum laetitia, quia in tristitia fuistis:
rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow:
ut exsultetis,
that you may exult,
et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae.
and be filled from the breasts of your consolation.
Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi:
I rejoiced at the things that were said to me:
in domum Domini ibimus.
we shall go into the house of the Lord.
New Translation of the Roman Missal
PRAY THIS LENT, 2013, WITH COLLECTS
FROM THE 1998 MISSAL
Misguided Missal
Fourth Sunday of Lent - Opening Prayer (Cycle C)
Fourth Sunday of Lent - Opening Prayer (Cycle A - for communities with catechumens)
Fifth Sunday of Lent - Opening Prayer (Cycle C)
Fifth Sunday of Lent - Opening Prayer (Cycle A)
Upcoming Events
Saturday March 16, 2013 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
9230 Germantown, Phila., Pa 19118
$25.00, or what you can afford, includes lunch
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You can register the day you arrive. However, for planning purposes, we appreciate receiving your registration by March 1.
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ASSEMBLY 2013 June 24-27, 2013 Seattle,WA
