The most promising Pope candidates part IV: Tarcisio Bertone

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Cardinal Bertone: The Ambitious

Tarcisio Bertone (78) comes into the spotlight this week, as head of the “Camera Apostolica” (Apostolic Chamber). As in 2005, he is still considered “papabile”.

Bertone was Benedict XVI.’s “Head of Government” and is certainly not exempt from criticism within the Vatican. As Secretary of State, the Cardinal was kind of a right-hand of the Pope. Bertone is regarded as down-to-earth and open-minded. Since 2007 he is the  Camerlengo (Cardinal Chamberlain).

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Tarcisio Bertone, born on December 2, 1934, grew up with seven brothers and joined the order of the Salesians of Don Bosco at the age of 16. After his ordination in 1960, he earned his doctorate in Canon law and taught for several years at the Pontifical Salesian University as well as at the Lateran University.

He was one of the revisers of the new code of Canon law, published in 1983. In 1991 John Paul II. appointed him Archbishop of the small Piedmontese Archdiocese of Vercelli, but just four years later he moved to the     Congregation of the Faith in Rome. There he was the secretary of prefect Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was appointed Archbishop of Genua in December 2002, and is a Cardinal since 2003.

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U.S. Cardinals canceled daily press conferences

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The American cardinals have suspended daily press conferences in Rome during the General Congregations at the request of the entire College of Cardinals.

 

“A little less conversation, a little more action, please.
All this aggravation ain’t satisfactionin’ me.”

According to the U.S. Conference of Bishops, the Cardinals thus followed a request of the College of Cardinals, which currently meets in Rome to discuss the situation of the Catholic Church and to prepare for the election. The College of Cardinals has thus highlighted the confidentiality of the interview content.

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The Vatican did not comment on the decision. However, spokesman Federico Lombardi noted that Cardinals from other countries had not held such press conferences. Lombardi said that the decision of the Americans did not surprise him. There is a general need for “utmost restraint” in the run-up to the Conclave. Earlier, reports of discussions between Cardinals from the United States, Germany and Italy about the Conclave and the papal elections were surfaced in Italian media.

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The most promising Pope candidates part III: Angelo Scola

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Cardinal Scola: The Italy-favorite

Cardinal Angelo Scola from Milan presides over the largest diocese in Europe. He is regarded as a brilliant theologian and acknowledged expert on Islam.

Scola, Archbishop of Milan, and apparently spearhead of the mighty Italian faction in the Conclave, is considered to be one of the hottest candidates for the succession of Benedict XVI. In the past years and decades he has made a name for himself especially in the dialogue with Islam, but also as a brilliant conservative theologian.

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Born on November 7 1941, in Malgrate (Province of Lecco – Lombardy), Scola was ordained a priest in 1970. He studied philosophy at the Catholic University in Milan and theology in Fribourg (Switzerland), and taught Theological Anthropology at the Pontifical Lateran University since 1982. In 1991, he received the episcopal consecration. Seven years, from 1995 to 2002, he headed the Lateran University and the Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Studies.

In 2002, Scola was appointed Patriarch of Venice, in October 2003 John Paul II. elevated him to Cardinal. Benedict XVI. finally appointed him Archbishop of Milan in 2011, with about five million Catholics, the largest Diocese in Europe.

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The most promising Pope candidates part II: Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga

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Cardinal Maradiaga: The sociopolitical advocate

The Archbishop of Tegucigalpa in Honduras, and President of the international Caritas, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, is considered a likely candidate for the office of the Roman Pontiff.

Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga is the first ever Cardinal from Honduras and was already considered papabile during the 2005 Conclave. Maradiaga said he feels unfit to be Pope, immediately after the first reports about his favorite. However, the Salesian of Don Bosco has a good chance to become Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’s successor.

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Rodriguez Maradiaga was born on December 29 1942 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, studied theology, piano and composition, physics, mathematics, chemistry, philosophy and psychology in Tegucigalpa, Rome and Innsbruck. At the age of 28, he was ordained priest and taught chemistry, physics and mathematics.

In Innsbruck, Maradiaga acquired a diploma in clinical psychology and psychotherapy. As a psychotherapist, he is member of The European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies. Since 1993, he is Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, and became president of the international Caritas in 2007. He is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

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The most promising Pope candidates part I: Peter Turkson

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Cardinal Turkson: The “conscience of the Church”

The 64-year-old president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Peter Turkson, is considered sophisticated, still down to earth. He could become the first Pope of the African continent.

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson Kodowo has a good chance to become the new spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church. He even commented in a press conference: “If God would wish to see a black man also as pope, thanks be to God.” Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace since 2009, and the Vaticans “Minister of Social Affairs”, is also considered the “conscience of the Church.” Airs and graces are alien to the Cardinal. The people-friendly cleric acts always friendly and relaxed, even if his appointment schedule may suggest otherwise.

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Turkson was born in Nsuta-Wassaw, Ghana, on October 11 1948, and grew up in a confessionally mixed family with nine brothers and sisters. His mother was a Evangelical-Methodist vegetable retailer, his father of Catholic Carpenter and his uncle a Muslim. He points this fact out against the criticism to have published an anti-Islamic video.

He first studied theology in his home country, later in New York and Rome, where he took his doctoral degree in biblical studies. In 1992, after years as a Professor of theology, he became Archbishop of Cape Coast. Since 1997, Turkson belongs to the Pontifical Commission for the dialogue between Methodists and Catholics. He speaks six languages.

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General Congregations day 3: Still no date for Conclave

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Today, preparations for the election of a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. continued, but still no date announced for the conclave.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi reported after the fourth meeting before the Conclave, that 153 Cardinals were present on Wednesday, 113 of them under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote. Yet, the last two papal electors are to arrive in Rome until Thursday. These are Polish Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz and the Vietnamese Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man. On Thursday, two General Gongregations are held in the morning and in the afternoon.

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Climate “very fraternal”

The climate at the meeting on Wednesday  was very fraternal, Lombardi told the press. The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, congratulated some Cardinals, who celebrate their birthday these days. Among them is also the German Cardinal Walter Kasper, who will celebrate his 80. birthday on Monday.

The consultations took place behind closed doors in the Synod Hall and were headed by Dean of Cardinals Sodano. Applicable duties of the Church were treated in the General Congregation. 18 Cardinals came forward to speak on Wednesday, and so far there were 51 speeches of Cardinals since the beginning of the General Congregations on Monday. Topics included the need for a new evangelization, the relations between the Vatican and the episcopates of the individual countries, as well as the profile of the new Pope, Lombardi reported.

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Pope-election: U.S. Cardinals want time to talk

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The U.S. Cardinals participating in the General Congregations for the preparation of the Conclave in the Vatican, want to take more time for discussions in regard to the election of the new Pope.

“This is the most important decision that some of us will ever make, and we need to give it the time that’s necessary,” Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston told journalists on Tuesday, after the second day of the pre-conclave meeting known as the General Congregation.

“I believe the feeling of the cardinals is we want to have enough time in the General Congregation so that when we go to the Conclave itself, it’s a time of a decision,” Cardinal O’Malley said. “The General Congregation is the time of discernment, and as much time as we need for discernment in prayer, reflection and getting information, then we need to use as much time as we have.”

Difficult task

On the question of whether the abuse scandals will complicate the choice of the future Pope, O’Malley replied: “The challenge for the Church is huge, and it is obvious that this complicates the election of a new Pope”

The Vatican continued preparations for the election of a successor of Pope Benedict XVI. on Tuesday. According to the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, 110 of the 115 cardinals under 80 who are eligible and expected to vote for the next Pope were present at the General Congregation March 5. The date of the beginning of the Conclave could thus be announced on Wednesday March 6.
Lombardi also told that, contrary to rumors, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was expected to arrive March 7.

It is expected that the conclave that elects the successor of Pope Benedict XVI., who resigned for reasons of age, will start next week. Thus the new Pope should be set in time for Easter.