U.S. Bishops elect Cardinal Francis George as president as expected
Baltimore, U.S.A, Nov 13, 2007 (CINS/CNA).- This morning in Baltimore, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) elected Cardinal Francis George as their new president as was anticipated. Cardinal George gained the presidency handily winning 85% of the vote in the first round of voting.
Commenting immediately after Cardinal George’s selection the outgoing president Bishop William Skylstad said, “I think that our applause speaks louder than any words could, congratulations, profound congratulations.”
Once Cardinal George was elected, the bishops moved on to choose the vice president from the remaining field of candidates. According to the rules for voting, the vice president must be chosen by a maximum of three votes, which it came down to.
On the final vote, Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon was tapped to be the vice president by a 55% to 45% margin over Bishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee. Kicanas’ election to the number two slot means that barring any unforeseen circumstances, he will become the president in three years.
Unlike past USCCB elections, the prospect of Cardinal George as president has raised some controversy because of comments he made about legislation being proposed for sex abuse cases.
The legislature of Illinois has proposed the suspension of the statute of limitations for clerical sex abuse cases which the cardinal wrote was “not about the safety of children as the sponsor claims, and is clearly, to me at least, about money.” Cardinal George’s remarks echo those made earlier this year by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Cardinal Bertone beatifies Indian in Argentina
Chimpay, Argentina, nov.13,2007 (CINS/totalcatholic) - A top Vatican official beatified Ceferino Namuncura, the son of a Mapuche Indian chief who embraced Catholicism in the 19th century.
The Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, presided over the November 11 beatification Mass in Blessed Namuncura's home town of Chimpay, Argentina.
More than 200,000 people attended the ceremony; they included the country's vice president, Daniel Scioli, and nearly 100 Latin American bishops.
Blessed Namuncura already enjoyed a popular, saintlike status among the Argentine poor. He was a Salesian novice when he died of tuberculosis in Rome in 1905 at the age of 18.
In his homily, Cardinal Bertone, a Salesian, said Blessed Namuncura never forgot he was a Mapuche and that his goal "was to serve his people." His example shows that the richness of the Gospel "never destroys the authentic values of a culture; rather, the evangelical message takes on these values, purifies them, perfects them."
Cardinal George to be chosen as Voice of American prelates
Chicago, U.S.A, Nov.11,2007 (CINS/Agencies) - Cardinal Francis George, Chicago's Archbishop will be chosen as the voice for the Church in America when the Roman Catholic Bishops gather this week in Baltimore. The group is led by the Former presidents of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to speak out to the nation on topics such as nuclear war and abortion.
Cardinal Francis George would be the first Cardinal elected to the post and is one of the nation's most senior church men. Gillis, author of "Roman Catholicism in America" said Cardinal George is someone with high visibility and high stature in the church. So, if there were an issue that needed to be brought to Vatican's attention, he has the status to bring it, and they'll listen to him. Also he is the one thoroughly obedient to Rome.
Recently, Cardinal George said one priority for the Bishops should be strengthening Catholic identity. That would include reaffirmation of the church's teaching on hot-button political issues which are being debated in the presidential campaign. "Faithful Citizenship," a political guide issued every four years before the election would be approved by the Bishops during their meeting in Baltimore this week. But, for the first time, the bishops will debate and vote on this sensitive document in public.
German cardinal decries seminarians' religious education
Munich, Germany, Nov. 09, 2007 (CINS/CWN) - Cardinal Friedrich Wetter of Munich has complained about the lack of religious knowledge among candidates for the priesthood in Germany.
Cardinal Wetter told reporters in Bavaria that the Church might be compelled to add another year of seminary training, in order to provide remedial education for young men who begin priestly training without an adequate knowledge of their faith.
Extending the length of seminary training could aggravate a shortage of young priests in Germany. The DPA news agency reports that 264 young men entered the country's seminaries in 2006-- a number that is sharply down from figures that reached over 800 in the early 1980s.
Cardinals called to Vatican for extraordinary assembly
Vatican City, Nov.09,2007 (CINS/totalcatholic) - For the second time in his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has summoned all the cardinals to the Vatican for an “extraordinary consistory”.
The assembly, on November 23, will cover the current state of the Catholic dialogue with the other Christian Churches and the situation of “the life of the Church in general.”
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Dean of the College of Cardinal s sent a letter to the cardinals on 26 October inviting them to the assembly, which will involve a morning and evening session, in the presence of the Pope
Benedict, who called a similar one-day assembly of the cardinals last March will address the meeting twice.
In the morning he will greet the cardinals and speak for a short time and may also indicate some questions which he wishes them to answer or comment on during the day.
Cardinal Walter Kasper will then deliver the keynote speech to the meeting, where he will explain the present state of the ecumenical dialogue, almost certainly focusing on relations with the Orthodox Church, with particular attention to the Russian Orthodox.
Cardinals will be free to speak for about seven minutes each after Cardinal Kasper’s speech in the morning, and also throughout the evening session which goes from 5-7.30pm.
The 23 new cardinals-elect, including Ireland’s Archbishop Sean Brady have been invited to attend, meaning all 202 members of the College of Cardinal s have been called to Rome.
Ireland will therefore have three cardinals at the meeting: the 90-year-old Cahal Daly, 81-year-old Desmond Connell of Dublin and 68-year old-Sean Brady – the only one of the three who will be able to vote in the next conclave, as he is under 80.
Scotland’s Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 69, will also be at the meeting and will brief his fellow cardinals after his recent trip to Vietnam and China.
Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, 75, of England and Wales is one of the most experienced cardinals in the Ecumenical field.
He created quite a stir at the last extraordinary consistory held by John Paul II in May 2001, when he proposed that the Pope should call “a kind of ecumenical council or assembly” of the leaders of all the other main Christian Churches – Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and Free Churches, which the pope would preside over “with a primacy of love, not a primacy of jurisdiction”.
Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor is expected to speak again this time.