Tag Archives: vatican

Pope Francesco I. – Jorge Mario Bergoglio

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Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the new Pope

The Jesuit Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina is the new Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. Francis I. is the first Jesuit in the papal office and also the first non-European.

The Roman Catholic Church experienced a double premiere: for the first time in history there is a Pope who comes from South America. And for the first time a member of the Jesuit order holds the highest ecclesiastical Office. The Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope on Wednesday evening in the fifth round of votes. Until now, the 76-year-old had been the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Bergoglio’s name as Pope is Francesco (Francis), he is the first Pope who has chosen this name.

bergoglio

Supposedly second in 2005

Bergoglio is a surprise for most Vatican experts, although he had, according to a “diary” which in 2005 had been smuggled out of the Conclave by one of the Cardinals, received the second most votes after Joseph Ratzinger. His withdrawal paved the way for the later Pope Benedict XVI., the document says.

Like many of his compatriots, the new Pope holds both the Argentine and the Italian citizenship and speaks Spanish and Italian, additionally some German due to a sojourn in Germany, were he wrote his doctoral thesis in 1985. The graduate chemist is regarded a multi-talent – good cook, opera lover, friend of the Greek classic, Shakespeare and Dostoevsky, good swimmer and strong, although he is struggling with lung problems since his childhood.

Bergoglio is considered a modest, down-to-earth and ecologically-minded person. As the “Cardinal of the poor”, he uses mostly public transportation and waived episcopal splendor. He confirmed this impression in his first appearance on the balcony of the St. Peter’s Basilica.

Modest appearance

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Black Smoke Signals on First Day of Conclave

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The Cardinals held their first ballot on Tuesday to elect a new Pope, with black smoke signaling no winner on the first day of their conclave inside the Sistine Chapel.

Black smoke rose into the evening sky over the Vatican as a conclave of Cardinals failed to select a new Pope on its first vote Tuesday.
Thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square to watch the results, but trickled quietly out of Vatican City shortly after the black smoke rose around 8 p.m. local time.

black-smoke

The outcome of the first ballot was expected, since all 115 of the Cardinals are theoretically candidates, and the winner must receive two-thirds, or 77, of the votes.

The election will continue on Wednesday, with with ballots each in the morning and afternoon.

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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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.

press-conference

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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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.