Old Europe put to the test in the Sistine Chapel

How Europe present itself at the Conclave? Will Benedetto XVI’s successor come from the Old Continent or is it time for an African, Asian, Latin American or even a North American Pope? As of February 11^th from when Pope Ratzinger announced to the entire world he was abdicating, the discussion of the nationality of the future Bishop of Rome was naturally also addressed.

A century-old intrigue between human and spiritual. Now, with the potential candidates in the Sistine Chapel, the debate has become more intense. Statistics mandate that they consult recommendations of international geopolitics and possible candidates’ profiles and curricula are scrutinized. The Vatican reports describe the network daily, of votes in transit from one cardinal to another, of tickets regarding the Pope as well as the Secretary of State. It is the exact same as every Conclave, an ancient custom that also owes its undeniable fascination to its rituals and secrecy, in which divine grace and human logic were inevitably called to meet and find a possible mediation. Precisely because of this, the history of the Conclaves is a fascinating mosaic of miscellaneous experiences: of conflicts and pressure, of prayers and spiritual invocation, of refined ploys and opposing vetoes, where with elections days away, ballots were alternated exhaustingly lasting for months and months.

Numbers in play

Let’s get back to the Conclave; in total there are 115 Cardinal candidates under 80 years of age, who are under the auspices of the Sistine Chapel to decide on the new Pope. Of these 60 are from Europe, 14 from North America and 19 from Latin America. 11 are African, 10 come from Asia and only 1 hails from Oceania. Among the Europeans, the nationality with strongest representation is Italy (28), followed by the Germans (6), then the Spanish (5), next by French and Polish (4), and finally by Portuguese (2). Ireland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Croatia and Slovenia only have one single candidate. Among these the Scottish Cardinal, Keith O’Brien, doesn’t appear because a few weeks ago he announced his removal for “personal reasons’ connected to the pedophile scandal in which he implicated himself.

A few profiles of European Pope-ables

Limiting himself only to Europe, the old continent lines up a group of Cardinals on whom media attention is focused and interest of those who observe things regarding the Vatican. Some are leaders of large European diocese and others are responsible for curia (Catholic religion) fields and Vatican congregations. Even if few stand out because of popularity (as could have been for Cardinal Martini) or for a lively personality (as was the case for Cardinal Ratzinger), it is advisable to examine the European Cardinals’ profiles closer because they could have a better chance than others in the secret of the Sistine. Knowing full well though that this time the taboo of a non-European Pope could be broken in favor of some character coming from a country with new evangelic fizz.

Scola, from Saint Marco to Sant’Ambrogio

Archbishop from Milan, son of a truck driver and a housewife, Angelo Scola was born in Malgrate (Lecco) on November 7th in1941. He has a degree in Philosophy and Theology, has been a priest since 1970 and a bishop since 1991, connected since the beginning to the movement of Communion and Liberation. After nearly 10 years leading the Patriarchy of Venice, he arrived at the pulpit of Sant’Ambrogio in 2011, called to this role by Benedetto XVI, who considered him a faithful disciple. This gesture was seen as a sign of papal favor for the man, for his theological orientation and also the catechism delivered in collaborating with the group Communio, who publish a quarterly review of Catholic theology of which Ratzinger was a co-founder. The bookmakers look to him and he is seen by many as the one who could reform the Roman Curia, which many people frown upon. He is active also on Twitter (Even if at the beginning of the Vacant Seat he deactivated his profile.) and his homilies and operations are followed, beyond the Milanese diocese portal, also on his website site www.angeloscola.it.

Ravasi, a cultured and scholarly prelate

The amount of publications he has written and looked after is astonishing – about 150 volumes that range from biblical to literary themes. In addition to these, add numerous interviews in newspapers and periodicals and even a much followed TV feature airing Sunday mornings on Channel 5. Among the Italian Cardinals, Gianfranco Ravasi is surely one of the better-known and followed. He is from Lombardy (He was born in Merate – in the province of Lecco in 1942.) and was Magistrate of the Ambrosia Library for 18 years. In 2007 Pope Ratzinger nominated him for bishop and called him to the Vatican to preside at the Ministry of Culture of the Holy See, becoming cardinal 3 years later. In this role he took care of the institution “Cortile dei Gentili,” a world forum for dialogue on atheism and non-believers which takes him around Europe and the world. He also organized the contemporary art exhibit for Benedetto XVI’s 60^th anniversary of priestly ordination, capably avoiding the disappointment of those not invited and in November 2009 he organized for a great number of artists to receive an audience with the Pope at the Sistine Chapel. Lately, he read then gave good advice to Nanni Moretti for his screenplay “Habemus Papam,” the story of a Pope who was anguished and depressed and refused to climb on Saint Peter’s throne.  

Betori, the Bible specialist of the Ruini group

Giuseppe Betori, Archbishop of Florence, was born in Foligno, Umbria in February of 1947 and is viewed with certain attention by Vaticanists and by observers of Italian religious affairs. Considered extremely close to the former Vicar of Rome, Camillo Ruini, with whom he was a close collaborator and right-hand to the Head of the Italian Episcopal Conference from 1996-2008. A refined Bible specialist and scholar of the Saint Luke Gospel, since 1997 he worked on the preparation of the 15^th World Youth Day, celebrated in August 2000 on the grounds of Tor Vergata. Among other things, the gardens of the Roman Policlinic University completed an exposition of plants and bushes cited in the Bible. Two years ago he was in the center of the Florentine black chronicles because on November 14, 2011 he survived an apparent assassination attempt in the Archbishop’s building by an unknown, who wounded his secretary, Don Paolo Brogi, with a gunshot and tried to kill Betori himself.

Erdő the discreet jurist

Primate d’Ungheria e Arcivescovo di Esztergom-Budapest, dove è nato nel giugno del 1952, il cardinale Peter Erdő proviene da una famiglia di intellettuali. Divenuto prete nel 1975, tra il 1977 e il 1980 vince una borsa di studio dell’Istituto Pontificio Ungherese e si specializza in diritto canonico e civile a Roma presso l’Università Lateranense. Da lì inizia una ricca carriera universitaria in materie giuridiche nella sua terra nativa, fino a diventare Rettore dell’università cattolica “Péter Pazmany”, una delle più antiche e prestigiose d’Ungheria. Nel gennaio 2000 riceve l’ordinazione episcopale a Roma da Giovanni Paolo II, che due anni dopo lo nomina arcivescovo della capitale magiara. Dal 2006 è Presidente del Consiglio delle Conferenze Episcopali d’Europa (CCEE), ruolo che gli sarà riconfermato nel 2011 e che assicura una certa notorietà. Prima di lui, infatti, era stato ricoperto dal cardinale Martini, che aveva avuto modo di farsi conoscere e apprezzare dai confratelli europei.

Cardinal Peter Erdő, a primate of Hungary and Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, where he was born in June 1952, comes from a family of intellectuals. He became priest in 1975, between 1977 and 1980 he won a scholarship to the Hungarian Pontifical Institute and specialized in canonic and civil law in Rome at the Lateran University. From there a rich university career began in legal material on his homeland, until becoming Dean of the catholic university “Péter Pazmany,” one of the oldest and most prestigious of Hungary. In January 2000 he received the Episcopal ordination in Rome from John Paul II, that 2 years later the nomination for Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest. Since 2006 he is President of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe (CECE), a role that will be reconfirmed in 2011 and brings certain notoriety. In fact, before him Cardinal Martini held the position, which allowed him to become known and appreciated by his European brothers.

Eijk, a would have been doctor to restore the Church to health

He chose the motto: “Noli recusare labore” (“Don’t reject work”). Almost a premonition, in case the question of accepting the Papacy should be posed to him. Cardinal for just over a year, on February 18, 2012, Willem Jacobus Eijk is among the youngest of nominees in the Cardinal College. The Archbishop of Utrecht was born in Duivendrecht in 1953 in the diocese of Haarlem. In 1978 he earned a degree in medicine at Amsterdam and also completed a year of internship in medicine before entering the seminary and becoming a priest in 1985. But his old passion remains and he specialized in bioethics medicine at the Angelicum of Rome. In 1999 he was elected bishop of Groningen-Leeuwarden. During the time Holland was undergoing secularism, he transformed churches of so-called “places of hope”: all the cult places– beginning with the cathedral of Saint Joseph – were transformed from religious buildings that were active and open to the community only on the weekends to being available 7 days a week. The initiative was successful and was replicated in other Dutch dioceses as well. The result: the faithful participate in church life again and the amount of priests increases. Since December 2007 he is Archbishop of Holland, named by Benedetto XVI, who met him at the International Theological Commission from 1997-  2002.

 Schönborn, devoted to Madonna and moralizer ahead of his time

Christoph Schönborn, Dominican Archbishop of Vienna was born January 22, 1945 in Skalken (Skalsko), in the Diocese of Litoměice, in Bohemia, in the current Czech Republic of an old aristocratic family of noble origin. In September of that year he moved to Austria. He finished his secondary education in the school Order of Preachers, then travelled around Europe: first at the University of Vienna, he studied philosophy and psychology; after in Paris at the Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) at the Sorbonne in Paris to follow the teaching of Slavic and Byzantine Christianity and at the Catholic Institute for courses in Theology. He became a priest in 1970 and obtained a diploma and PhD in Theology in 1971 and a degree in Theology in 1974 in Paris. In July 1991 he was elected Auxiliary Bishop of Vienna and 4 years later became Archbishop of the Austrian capital, in the furrow of a grand figure, Cardinal Konig, who was the architect of Karol Wojtyla’s becoming Pope in 1978. Well before the scandal of pedophile priests, Schönborn already intervened in 1998 by asking forgiveness for the Austrian priests for acts committed by his predecessor, Cardinal Groer, who was accused of sexual abuse against minors. A standing which would cause some incomprehension and more than dislike inside the Roman Curia, if the June 28, 2010 Vatican Press Room had to intervene with a press release to explain the meaning of a meeting to placate, which was asked for directly by Benedetto XVI between Schönborn and Cardinal Sodano. Another one of his peculiarities is that, waiting for probable future ecclesiastic recognition, having declared he is keeping an open mind on the veracity of the apparition of the Madonna of Medjugorje – a controversial topic and being the object of a dedicated committee of study headed by Cardinal Ruini. Finally, Schönborn is the only Cardinal of “Ratzinger Schülerkreis,” the group of alumni of Pope Emeritus who gathered during summers at Castel Gandolfo.

Ciro Fusco