From: Ouko joachim omolo
Voices of Justice for Peace
Regional News
BY FR JOACHIM OMOLO OUKO, AJ
NAIROBI-KENYA
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2012
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Lebanon looking tired and weak-using a cane. When the pope visited Cuba recently he also used a cane. This is not the first time the pope looks worn out. People who have spent time with him say they found him weaker than they’d ever seen him, seemingly too tired to engage with what they were saying.
In December last year he started using a moving platform to spare him the long walk down St. Peter’s Basilica. This brings us to the big question whether the Catholics should worry about Pope Benedict XVI’s health as he enters his late 80s? Should Pope Benedict XVI consider resigning before he has any major health issues?
Benedict turned 85 in the New Year. He was the oldest Pope to be elected in around 300 years. Although the Pope himself could open the door to his possible retirement, people surrounding him would see this as a defeat on his part.
But if he clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.
If he decides to do so, then Pope Benedict would be the first Pope to do so since 1415 during the Great Western Schism, partly because the church’s catechism may be confused with two popes living simultaneously and party because the dental plan is so good.
The Vatican is playing down comments that Pope Benedict is looking thinner, tired and weak, and therefore he cannot resign despite the fact that people who have spent time with him and watching his every movement say they do perceive him weaker, seemingly too tired to engage.
Prior to his election as the pope, speculations have been going around that if he world’s cardinals decided to return the papacy to the Italians, one possible candidate was Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome. He has been a vocal and vigorous opponent of Italian legislative efforts or other proposals that would threaten human life and weaken the traditional definition of the family.
German Cardinal Walter Kasper who was known for his warm smile, keen intellect and deep commitment to Christian unity was also seen as possible Cardinal to succeed Pope John Paul II.
Since 2001 then 72-year-old theologian has been president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and president of the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews.
While devoting his energy to seeking unity with other Christians, Cardinal Kasper has made it clear that the unity Christ desires for his disciples must be based on faith, not compromise.
Portuguese Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins’ name also started popping up on lists of possible papal candidates. His personal warmth and his focus on holiness, combined with his contacts with missionaries around the world and his experience in the Congregation for Catholic Education had drawn the notice of the media and of his fellow cardinals.
Another possible candidate was Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz Ossa of Santiago. He had stressed national reconciliation in efforts to address human rights violations. In early 2000, he convinced the nation’s bishops to allow Chilean priests to become available to listen to anyone having information regarding the fate of people who disappeared during the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
On the other hand, Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet, a polyglot academic who briefly served as secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, started showing up on Italian newspapers’ top-12 list three days before the April 18 conclave.
Amid political and religious strife in his native Indonesia, Cardinal Julius Darmaatmadja of Jakarta who has been a voice of moderation, calling for tolerance and dialogue was also another possible candidate.
During civil unrest in 1998, when President Suharto resigned, he issued a joint statement with a Muslim leader, calling on the government and the military to end the violence. He also urged that mosques destroyed in the rioting be rebuilt.
With both curial and pastoral experience, Brazilian Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo who was seen as a leader who can bridge the universal and local church also appeared on the list. Cardinal Agnelo, 71 by then, spent nearly eight years as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments before his 1999 assignment as head of Brazil’s oldest diocese, Sao Salvador da Bahia.
If cardinals look to the continent where Catholicism is growing the fastest for the next pope, they might zero in on Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi of Douala, Cameroon. Then 74-year-old West African cardinal speaks seven languages and has firsthand experience with two of the most difficult problems facing the Catholic Church in the third millennium — relations with Muslims and vocations.
A former seminary rector and philosophy teacher, Cardinal Tumi is actively concerned with the proper formation of priests and has strongly defended church teachings on priestly celibacy.
As archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi who had become one of the strongest and most articulate pastoral voices in Italy, building a reputation as a conservative on doctrine and a liberal on social issues was also listed as possible candidate.
The author of more than 25 books, then 71-year-old cardinal is considered one of the church’s top experts in bioethics, marriage and family ministry, the lay apostolate and youth formation. He is said to have been a leading behind-the-scenes contributor to Pope John Paul’s 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”).
Cardinal Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice, a scholarly pastor intent on raising the church’s cultural and social profile was also on the list. Inside and outside the church, observers sometimes describe Cardinal Scola as a cultural warrior with a penchant for bluntness.
Another possible candidate was Archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian bishops’ conference Cardinal Christoph Schonborn. Beyond his pastoral trials, then 60-year-old Dominican has the talents and experience.
Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa who has emerged as one of the College of Cardinals’ strongest Latin American voices, especially on social justice issues was also listed as possible candidate.
He has called poverty and social injustice the real “weapons of mass destruction” in the 21st century, and in 2004 he said hunger and hardship were the truly “subversive” elements in Latin American society.
Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic who was appointed archbishop of Sarajevo as the end of communism in Eastern Europe and brought hopes for peace, freedom and the respect of human rights in what was then Yugoslavia was also on the list.
Although no longer considered a leading candidate to become pope, the late Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini was on the list. Cardinal Martini, 78 then who retired as archbishop of Milan in 2002 and began living most of each year in Jerusalem continued his Scripture scholarship and prayers for peace.
Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, retired archbishop of Paris, who has been the voice of French Catholics for almost a quarter century, particularly defending the right of believers to have a say in public debates was also a listed as possible candidate.
Born into a Jewish family, the cardinal has also been outspoken in condemning anti-Semitism and promoting dialogue with Jews and with the nation’s growing Muslim community.
The next was Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes. He safeguarded the dignity of the human person by protecting the family and promoting employment. Then 70-year-old Franciscan was also known as a peacemaker who had mediated labor disputes, welcomed new Catholic movements into the church without pushing aside older groups, and worked to promote Christian unity and better relations with the Jews.
Experience as an archbishop, as a Vatican diplomat and in the Roman Curia gave Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias of Mumbai was also a possible candidate. The next one was Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels. He had voiced concern over the vocations crisis, saying it stands like a wall against the church’s future development.
As Cardinal Anthony Okogie of Lagos put it bravely that the hope of an African Pope for the Church are very slim because the number of African cardinals in the church today is negligible, then the Cardinal who would have succeeded Pope John Paul II was Cardinal Francis Arinze. Since October 2002 he had headed the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, which in 2004 issued an important document that took aim at a wide range of liturgical abuses.
Other possible candidates included Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, head of the Mexico City Archdiocese, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague, Czech Republic and Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez who leads the Archdiocese of Guadalajara.
A longtime theologian and author, Portuguese Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo of Lisbon, Portugal was also on the list. Italian Cardinal Ennio Antonelli of Florence was also mentioned occasionally.
Although it has been speculated that the Cardinal to succeed Pope Benedict XVI is the New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the fact that of the 22 new cardinals created by the pope recently, seven are Italian, adding to the eight voting-age Italian cardinals chances are minimal.
Another reason why Dolan may not make it is the fact that he comes from the super power country, a country with systemic power, in almost every continent, including a top-tier industrial economy, a comprehensive global military footprint, a country with ability to defend itself against any other power and enormous cultural attraction.
The allegation that when he was the archbishop of Milwaukee he anthologized payments of much as $20, 000 to sexually abusive priests is also another barrier. Although he has categorically denied the allegation, a document unearthed during bankruptcy proceedings for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and made public by victims’ advocates reveals that the archdiocese did make such payments to multiple accused priests to encourage them to seek dismissal, thereby allowing the church to remove them from the payroll.
A spokesman for the archdiocese confirmed in May 2012 that payments of as much as $20,000 were made to “a handful” of accused priests “as a motivation” not to contest being defrocked. The process, known as “laicization,” is a formal church juridical procedure that requires Vatican approval, and can take far longer if the priest objects.
The minutes say that those at the meeting discussed a proposal to “offer $20,000 for laicization ($10,000 at the start and $10,000 at the completion the process).” Instead of salary, they would receive a $1,250 monthly pension benefit, and, until they found another job, health insurance.
Born on Feb. 6, 1950, Timothy Dolan was among the 22 cardinals named by Pope Benedict XVI. They were formally entered into the College of Cardinals in February 2012. Only three of the new cardinals come from outside the West: João Bráz de Aviz, a Brazilian who heads the Vatican office for religious life; John Tong Hon, bishop of Hong Kong; and George Alencherry, archbishop of the Syro-Malabar church in India.
The following is the complete list of new cardinals announced by the pontiff, during his Angelus address marking the Feast of the Epiphany:
18- new cardinal electors
1. Fernando Filoni (Italian), Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
2. Manuel Monteiro de Castro (Portuguese), Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary
3. Santos Abril y Castelló (Spanish) , Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major
4. Antonio Maria Vegliò (Italian), President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees
5. Giuseppe Bertello (Italian), President of the Government of the Vatican City State
6. Francesco Coccopalmerio (Italian), President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts
7. João Bráz de Aviz (Brazilian), Prefect of the Congregation for Religious
8. Edwin O’Brien (American), Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre
9. Domenico Calcagno (Italian), President of the Apostolic Patrimony of the Holy See
10. Giuseppe Versaldi (Italian), President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See
11. George Alencherry (Indian), Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church in India
12. Thomas Collins (Canadian), Archbishop of Toronto
13. Dominik Duka (Czech), Archbishop of Prague
14. Wim Eijk (Dutch), Archbishop of Utrecht
15. Giuseppe Bettori (Italian), Archbishop of Florence
16. Timothy Dolan (American), Archbishop of New York
17. Rainer Maria Woelki (German), Archbishop of Berlin
18. John Tong Hon (Chinese), Bishop of Hong Kong
Four honorary cardinals:
1. Archbishop Lucian Mure?an, Major Archbishop of F?g?ra? ?i Alba Iulia (Romanian)
2. Monsignor Julien Ries (Belgian)
3. Augustinian Fr. Prosper Grech (Maltese)
4. Jesuit Fr. Karl Becker (German)
Appointments brought the total number of voting-age cardinals to 126, six more than the ceiling of 120 established by Pope Paul VI.
Fr Joachim Omolo Ouko, AJ
People for Peace in Africa
Tel +254-7350-14559/+254-722-623-578
E-mail omolo.ouko@gmail.com
Peaceful world is the greatest heritage
That this generation can give to the generations
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