The most promising Pope candidates part IX: Gianfranco Ravasi

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Cardinal Ravasi: The Sophisticated

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and considered an intellectual like Benedict XVI. The 70 year-old Bible expert has also a reputation as an expert on media and youth culture.

Ravasi has published vast numbers of books on Bible topics and writes for Italian newspapers. Since 2007, the internationally renowned Biblical scholar heads the Pontifical Council of culture. Through his Office and also with his initiative “Court of the Gentiles” he tries to push the conversation between Church and contemporary art, culture and, in the tradition of Cardinal Konig – Agnostics and Atheists. However, he lacks the pastoral experience. This résumé might limit his chances, in case the voting Cardinals should decide they want an experienced priest as new Pope, and not again a Professor.

Gianfranco-Ravasi

Ravasi was born in 1942 in the Lombardy. He was ordained a priest in 1966. The appointment as an Archbishop was connected with his appointment as the President of the Culture Council, and became Cardinal in November 2010. Prior to his appointment at the Vatican, Ravasi was prefect of the Milan Ambrosiana library. Benedict XVI. entrusted him with the management of the two Pontifical Commissions for the cultural assets and the Christian archeology.

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The most promising Pope candidates part VIII: Angelo Bagnasco

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Cardinal Bagnasco: The Preserver

He was regarded a low profile pastor, but as chairman of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Bagnasco developed a pro-active role as strict preserver of the “non-negotiable values”.

The family, based on the marriage solely between a man and a woman. is part of these “non-negotiable” principles. It is strange, when the way towards a developed Europe requires the denial of human values, said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, President of the Italian Episcopal Conference, in January 2013.

angelo-banagsco

With his attitudes, the 70-year-old Cardinal attracted a lot of attention in recent years, while Vatican experts assume, that he only was appointed chairman of the powerful Italian Bishops’ Conference in March 2007, due to his lack of profile. Supposedly he get roped into the power struggle between his predecessor, Cardinal Camillo Ruini and the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone. At one level, the contest was between moderates, who wanted Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan, and conservatives, who wanted someone like Cardinal Angelo Scola (then of Venice, now in Milan) or perhaps Cardinal Carlo Caffarra of Bologna. The bottom line is that Bagnasco was thrust into the spotlight largely because he profiled as someone who wouldn’t do much with it. Over the last six years, however, something unexpected happened: He grew into the role.

Controversial “Media Star”

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The most promising Pope candidates part VII: Luis Antonio Tagle

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Cardinal Tagle: The Philanthrope

He travels by bus and train, eats lunch with beggars and has very forthright things to say about abuse. Filipinos would love to see Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle from Manila soon as Pope in Rome.

Since October, 2011, Luis Antonio Tagle is Archbishop of one of the large dioceses in the world, of the Archdiocese of Manila. This is a not only a religious, but also a politically influential post. Yet, you can still find the Cardinal traveling by bus. He is proud of not having a car of his own, as “it gives you the opportunity to escape the insulation that high management positions often bring along,” says Tagle. In reality, the communication talent Tagle, has no need to worry about isolation or aloofness.

cardinal-tagle

From his diocese is reported, that he approaches people with an open and easy way of doing, has lunch with beggars and does not hesitate to visit the dark corners of the city Manila. Time after time, people are surprised that the person they are talking to is not just a simple priest, but the Archbishop himself.

Close to the people

In his lectures and sermons, the Cardinal often refers to his contact with the people, of which many videos can be found on the Internet. During his speeches, the audience is repeatedly moved to tears, and people are literally hanging on Bishop Tagle’s every word. But he admits, “to be also very emotional”. When Pope Benedict XVI. elevated him to the rank of Cardinal last November, he wept. It was a moment of joy, but at the same time of deep respect for the exceeding greatness of the new task, he told journalists.

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The most promising Pope candidates part VI: Timothy Dolan

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Cardinal Dolan: The Humorous

New York’s  Archbishop Timothy Dolan is a conservative with lots of humor. He could become the first American Pope. The U.S. magazine “Time” named him one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

“I can not remember a single moment when I did not want to be a priest,” Dolan once said. The 63-year-old is the Archbishop of New York since 2009, became chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in 2010, and was appointed Cardinal in 2012. Of all American Cardinals he is said to have the best chance of becoming the next Pope.

Timothy-Dolan

In the view of the Vatican, the strongly-built, down-to-earth and dynamic Bishop of Irish descent, seemed to be the right man to jump-start the religious life of the “Big Apple” with its more than 2.5 million Catholics in 2009. Because of the special status of New York as a trendsetting, media and commercial capital, John Paul II. once named the New York Archbishop as the “Bishop of the capital of the world”. Among the  Bishops, Dolan is considered a moderate conservative. His humor and his enthusiasm impressed the Vatican, which often lacks both. The Cardinals are however sceptical about a Pope from a “superpower”, also for some his pally appearance might be too “American”.

Struggle with Obama

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Conclave will start on Tuesday March 12

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The Vatican has just announced that the Conclavce is to start on Tuesday March 12, 2013.

After almost a week of consultations, the College of Cardinals has finally fixed a date for the beginning of the Conclave that will take place at the premises of the Sistine Chapel.

As the week progressed, the question of a fundamental reform of the Curia, after the scandals that shattered the church in recent years, became a crucial issue among the Cardinals. This topic has become the central point in the negotiations.

The negotiations to find a successor to Benedict XVI., are proving to be more difficult than expected, as indicated by the long wait for only the starting date.

The Conclave to elect the new head of the Roman Catholic Church is preceded by intensive understandings and agreements between different “popemakers” in the General Congregations. Shepherd or diplomat, Italian or alien, conservative or reformer.

Date of Conclave to be announced today

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The Cardinals gathered in the Vatican want to set a date for the beginning of the Conclave to elect a new Pope this very day (Friday, March 8). The date would be announced in the evening, told the Vatican.

The election of a new Pope will start probably early next week. “It could be Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday”, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said earlier today. “We can assume that the Congregation is going to vote in its afternoon meeting on the date for the beginning of the Conclave”, told Lombardi.

The Cardinals, assembled in the Papal States from all over the world, will meet again at 5:00 pm. The session will last until 7:00 p.m.. Currently, more than 150 Cardinals are meeting in the so-called General Congregations in the Vatican. At the time of resignation, 115 of them were younger than 80 years, making them eligible to elect a new Pope in the premises of the Sistine Chapel.

The Cardinals gathered to prepare for the election, on Friday officially accepted the notice of removal of the two Cardinals Julius Riyadi Darmaatmadja from Jakarta and the Scotsman Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien. The Indonesians renounced for health-, the Archbishop of Edinburgh for “personal reasons” from participating in the Conclave.

The most promising Pope candidates part V: Marc Ouellet

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Cardinal Ouellet: The Cosmopolitan

As head of the Congregation of Bishops, Marc Ouellet (68) is kind of a staff manager at the Vatican. Pope to be “would be a nightmare,” Ouellet was once quoted. However, his chances are not bad at all.

Ouellet is a cosmopolitan who speaks also German, Portuguese, and Spanish in addition to French and English. Although the former Ratzinger students is well networked within the Curia, the widespread secularism in his home province of Quebec could speak against him as the new Pope.

Marc-Ouellet

In theological questions, he appears strict and conservative. Among other things he spoke out publicly against abortion and gay marriage. His supporters believe he would make a modest Pope and a deeply faithful defender of the Catholic identity. For his critics, as a Ratzinger student, he is to similar to Benedict XVI.

Ouellet was born in 1944, in Amos (Quebec), in a French-speaking family with eight children. He studied theology in Montreal, was ordained a priest in 1968 and became in 1972 the Sulpician Order. In Innsbruck, he continued his studies. On March 3 2001, Pope John Paul II. appointed the Canadian, Secretary of the Ecumenical Council at the Vatican. A year later he was appointed Archbishop of Quebec, and Cardinal in 2003. 2010, Ouellet became Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

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