Humility Personified
"I have to be ready even if I think that probably others could do it better. I will cross the river when I get to the bridge, and we are not there.The cardinal has prepared himself, humbly and with respect for his fellow cardinals who may or may not elevate him to the highest office of the Roman Catholic Church. His name, after all, has been touted as a potential successor to Emeritus Pope Benedict. Of course there is the suggestion by the somewhat less immodest Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who testily advised it was time to elect a third-world pope, and he would be willing to break the mould.
"My name is circulating but I am very careful to go beyond this sort of media expectation.
"It would be a great novelty, obviously, you know. I think that many others in other parts of the world are well prepared."
"There was a focus on Europe obviously for centuries, and centuries, and that some day, I think some day it is to be expected that a pope would come from Asia, would come from Africa, would come from America. It wouldn't be a surprise. Nowadays it wouldn't be a surprise. And obviously it could bring some new accent."
"And so, we have to do that in conscience. In a way, you don't vote against somebody. You vote for somebody that you believe is the best person for the role."
Cardinal Marc Ouellet
It seems as though there is a silent, unspoken but generally agreed-upon covenant among the cardinals to avoid elevating yet another Italian. A position which the Italian cardinals, who predominate within the Holy See, do not quite share. They have been visibly and determinedly lobbying on their own behalf for the outcome of the ballot, being equally willing to retain honoured tradition.
Or possibly Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines. After all, it is in Asia, South America, Africa, where the Roman Catholic Church is growing. The date for the conclave has not yet been set, they are awaiting the arrival of a number of cardinals not yet arrived. But it is imminent. If it begins on the tenth, the world may know by the 13th of March who the new pope is, when that tremblor is signalled through the gentle rise of white smoke.
As to the dinosaur that lumbers about the holy city, trampling on everyone's sensitivities, Cardinal Ouellete affirms with respect to the issue of sexual abuse in the priesthood that "This is a very painful question always and everything that was bad, you know is so regretful and the church has apologized many times. Who knows?" in fact, whether it has apologized sufficiently.
"We have learned from our mistakes", he said placidly to the question from CBC News anchor Peter Mansbridge during the interview. The church, he said must always "listen carefully to the victims. But it is not a Catholic problem. It is a human problem. Most of the abuse occurred in families in general in society, and my hope is what was done by the Catholic Church, which is not yet perfect, but could be also of example for others in society."
Wh-wh-what?
Labels: Controversy, Heritage, Human Relations, Traditions, Vatican
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, March 06, 2013
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