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College of Cardinals expands
Pope announces special consistory
In a ceremony that he said marked “another historic page in the history of the second millennium,” Pope John Paul II conferred red hats on 44 cardinals on February 21.
The ceremony was held in St. Peter’s Square under a bright blue sky. The front of St. Peter’s Basilica saw a colorful display: the red robes of the new cardinals and the 80 other members of the College of Cardinals who attended the ceremony; the purple of the 250 bishops who were on hand; the black of the 12 patriarchs of Eastern churches; and the white vestments worn by the concelebrants in the liturgical service. Even the Swiss Guards adorned their helmets with a red plume—as they do for special ceremonies.
The new cardinals were led toward the Vatican basilica by Cardinal-designate Giovanni Battista Re, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, who was chosen by Pope John Paul to head the procession. They were warmly applauded by the crowd of 35,000 people as they arrived, followed by the procession of concelebrants and other prelates. Pope John Paul II arrived separately a few minutes later, emerging from inside St. Peter’s, and heading for his chair in front of the columns of the basilica.
The 44 new members of the College of Cardinals include 42 prelates named by Pope John Paul in January, and 2 others who had been elevated to the rank of cardinal in pectore—that is, secretly—in 1998. Technically these two prelates became cardinals as soon as their names were revealed. Still they received their red hats in the February ceremony.
The high point of the ceremony came when, after swearing fidelity to the Pope and his successors, the new cardinals came forward to receive their red hats. Each candidate knelt before the Pope, who placed the hat on his head. Each new cardinal also received a “bull” confirming his membership in the College of Cardinals, and assigning him to a titular parish in the Diocese of Rome. (The cardinals thus become members of the clergy of Rome, and eligible to vote in the election of a Bishop of Rome: the Pope.)
Among the new cardinals, three stood out because they were not wearing the same red robes as the others. They were Eastern prelates, wearing the vestments of their own churches: Patriarch Ignace Moussa I Daoud, the current prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches and former Patriarch of Antioch for the Syrian Catholic Church; Patriarch Stephanos II Ghattos of Alexandria, the head of the Coptic Catholic Church; and Major Archbishop Lubomyr Husar of Lviv, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church.
In his discourse to the new cardinals, Pope John Paul emphasized that “the Church is not guided by the calculus of human power, but by the constant witness of the apostles, martyrs, and saints.” He urged them to be mindful of the injunction offered by Jesus in the Gospel of St. Mark, that the greatest among them would be the one who served the others. For cardinals, the Pontiff said, “witness can mean the heroism that entails a complete gift of self to God and one’s brothers.” Such heroism, he added, is particularly necessary today.
Along with the 35,000 faithful who gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the ceremony, there were 250 journalists accredited by the Vatican for the event, and 40 photographers. The ceremony was broadcast by 254 electronic media outlets: 180 radio and 74 television stations. After the ceremony, the new cardinals received courtesy calls from friends and relatives in public receptions. For those receptions, the cardinals were assigned to places in two different buildings: the Paul VI auditorium or the first floor of the apostolic palace. During the afternoon, thousands of visitors passed through the famous Bronze Door of the apostolic palace—which is ordinarily closed to the public—to greet the new cardinals.
Before the members of the College of Cardinals returned home after the February consistory, Pope John Paul asked them to convene again for an extraordinary consistory in May of this year. The Pope told the cardinals that he wished to consult with them about the pastoral challenges facing the Church in the new millennium. He indicated that his apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineunte could form the basis for their discussions. Such special meetings of the College of Cardinals are infrequent. The last time the Pope summoned the cardinals to Rome was in 1994.
Beatification for Spanish martyrs
First Uruguayan natives beatified
Less than a month after welcoming an unprecedented number of members to the College of Cardinals, Pope John Paul broke another record when he beatified 233 martyrs in a single ceremony on March 11.
About 25,000 people were on hand in St. Peter’s Square for the ceremony recognizing victims of the persecution that accompanied the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939.
In his homily during the ceremony, the Holy Father observed that “none of these newly beatified martyrs was implicated in the political or ideological wars, nor wished to become involved.” Instead, he said, “they gave their lives solely for religious reasons.” He pointed out that many of these Spanish martyrs had explicitly offered their forgiveness to those who killed them. And he paid special tribute to Blessed
Maria Teresa Ferragud, who was arrested in 1936 at the age of 83 and eventually killed alongside her four children, all of whom were religious.
The Pope said that he would entrust to the newly beatified martyrs “an intention that is deeply rooted in your hearts: an end to terrorism in Spain.” He noted that for many years, Spain has been “sorely tried by a horrible series of acts of violence and assassinations which have claimed many victims and caused great suffering.” This campaign of terrorism, he continued, follows “a perverse logic which must be denounced.” He stressed: “No motive, no cause or ideology, can justify terrorism.”
The 233 martyrs, who died at different times and places, had been recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 16 separate investigations (or “causes”), grouped according to the religious congregations to which they belonged or the particular circumstances in which they died. Their causes were drawn together for the purposes of the beatification ceremony.
The largest single group involved in one of these causes includes 74 martyrs, of whom 37 were laymen and 37 diocesan priests. All were members of Catholic Action in Valencia. The other martyrs were all priests or religious. Most were also from Valencia, although some come from other parts of Spain and some from other countries. Two martyrs, the sisters
Dolores and Consuelo Aguilar Mella, are of Uruguayan origin, and are the first natives of that country to be beatified.
Belgian theologian “corrected”
Problems regarding religious pluralism
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has issued a caution regarding the work of a Belgian Jesuit theologian because of his treatment of religious pluralism and the unique role of the Catholic Church.
“I feel freer, even if there are things which do not please me,” said Father Jacques Dupuis, SJ, who had been teaching at the Gregorian pontifical university. The Belgian theologian signed the notification issued by the Congregation, acknowledging the criticism of his work.
The formal notification published by the Holy See tackles the questions raised by Father Dupuis regarding “the interpretation of the single and universal salvific mediation of Jesus Christ, the unicity and plenitude of Revelation in Christ, the salvific action of the Holy Spirit, the orientation of all men to the Church, the value and the significance of the salvific function of religious traditions.”
The eight proposals for this notification, divided into two parts, initially affirm the principles of Catholic doctrines, then refute the contrary doctrines. Father Dupuis argued that he did not actually propose the teachings that are condemned in the second portion of the Congregation’s statement. The notification was modified three times before the Belgian Jesuit agreed to sign it, acknowledging the “ambiguities” in his book, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. “However, I still do not agree completely with some of the second part,” he said.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked Father Dupuis to have the notification published in future editions and translations of his book. The Congregation emphasized that the book is not a theology of religion, but a theology of religious pluralism, “which seeks to investigate, in the light of Christian faith, the significance of the plurality of religious traditions in God’s plan for humanity.” The Vatican statement notes that the members of the Congregation found ambiguities on important doctrinal points, “which could lead a reader to erroneous or harmful opinions.”
The notification from the Congregation, which was promulgated with the approval of the Pope, reflects the conclusion of a long process of discussion between Father Dupuis and Vatican theologians. In 1998, the theologian had left his teaching post at the Gregorian in order to devote himself full time to the task of answering questions and objections posed by the Congregation. The notification includes a short history of the exchanges that concluded when Father Dupuis agreed to sign the document, and thus “commit himself to assent to the stated theses, and in his future theological activity and publications, to hold the doctrinal contents indicated.” Father Dupuis contended that he would not be obliged to change his own teachings, since the notification condemned “misinterpretations” of his book, rather than “errors” in what he had written.
Armenian Church marks 1700th anniversary
First nation to embrace Christianity
On Sunday, February 18, Pope John Paul II presided at the celebration of the Divine Liturgy according to the Armenian rite in St. Peter’s Basilica. Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX of Cilicia, the head of the Armenian Catholic Church, was the principal celebrant. In his homily the Pope said that he is “anxiously waiting for the day when I can finally kiss the soil of Armenia, marked by the blood of so many martyrs.”
The retired Patriarch, Pierre Kasparian XVIII, also participated in the ceremony, and 13 Armenian Catholic bishops concelebrated. These bishops represented the Armenian Catholics of the diaspora, from Iraq, Israel, Egypt, Syria, the United States, Latin America, and France. To prepare the Vatican basilica for the Armenian liturgy, an iconostasis was erected in front of the altar.
Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX specifically requested this celebration of the Armenian liturgy in St. Peter’s when he came to Rome in December 1999 shortly after his election as the head of the Armenian Catholic Church, to ask for full ecclesial communion with the Holy See. The February date of the celebration was chosen for its dual significance; it marked the feast of St. Vartan, an Armenian martyr; and it also anticipated the 1700th anniversary of the arrival of St. Gregory the Illuminator in Armenia. It was through the evangelizing efforts of St. Gregory that Armenia became the first country officially to adopt Christianity as its religion.
In 451, rejecting the Christological pronouncements of the Council of Chalcedon, the Church in Armenia broke with Rome. However, during the 1990s the Armenian Apostolic Church reached agreement with the Holy See on the same Christological issues, paving the road to a restoration of full communion. One of the three historic patriarchates of the Armenian Church —now known as the Armenian Catholic Church —has been in full communion since the middle of the 19th century. The Armenian Catholic Church today serves about 350,000 faithful, most of them located in Syria and Lebanon. The Armenian Apostolic Church claims 3.5 million followers, primarily in Armenia itself and in nearby Russia and Georgia.
During the Sunday celebration, which took nearly three hours, Pope John Paul presented the Armenian Patriarch with a relic of St. Gregory, the patron of Armenia. This relic will be brought back to the patriarchal see in Lebanon. The Pope had previously given another relic of St. Gregory to Patriarch Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In an apostolic letter to the Armenian faithful, released on February 17, Pope John Paul II wrote that the faith of that land is based on the blood of its martyrs. In his letter, the Holy Father pointed to “the most tragic” moments in Armenian history, and particularly the massacres of the 19th and early 20th centuries, “culminating in the tragic events of 1915.” (See related story, page 38.) The memory of the genocide in 1915 “cannot be forgotten,” Pope John Paul wrote. The consequences of that tragedy are visible today in the Armenian diaspora, he continued. But the martyrdom suffered by the Armenian people is also a testimony to their courage, he noted. And today Armenia is “a rich treasure for the Church.”
The Pope encouraged Armenians—wherever they live today—to be peacemakers in the modern world. He urged them to recognize the ties between their culture and their Christian faith. And he emphatically called upon members of both the Catholic and Armenian Apostolic churches to work for a restoration of unity.
New head for Pontifical Council
Cardinal Kasper succeeds Cardinal Cassidy
Cardinal Walter Kasper has been named president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, succeeding the retiring Cardinal Edward Cassidy. Cardinal Kasper had been serving as secretary to the same Pontifical Council. Father Marc Ouellet, a Canadian priest, has been named to fill that post and will be elevated to the episcopate.
The appointment of the former Bishop of Rottenberg, Germany, was fully expected. It is highly unusual for the secretary of a Pontifical Council to receive a red hat, and when then-Bishop Kasper was named by the Pope to join the College of Cardinals in February, Vatican-watchers rightly concluded that he would soon be promoted to head the Council.
Cardinal Kasper, whose work as a theologian had gained him wide recognition before he came to work for the Pontifical Council in 1999, had a particularly important role in Catholic-Lutheran dialogue, leading up to the joint declaration on justification that was released in October 1999.
Cardinal Cassidy, who is stepping down from the presidency of the Pontifical Council, submitted his retirement as required upon reaching his 75th birthday in 1999. Like many leading Vatican officials, he remained in his role until after the conclusion of the Jubilee year. Prior to being named as the president of the Council, the Australian-born Cardinal Cassidy had been a papal envoy, serving in a dozen different countries, and had worked in the Secretariat of State at the Vatican. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in June 1991.
Father Ouellet, the new secretary of the Council, is a member of the editorial board of the international theological journal
Communio, and a consultor to the Congregation for Bishops.
Chicago prelate preaches Lenten retreat
Cardinal George stresses missionary zeal
The annual Lenten Retreat at the Vatican began on Sunday evening, March 4, in the Redemptoris Mater chapel, and concluded with morning prayers on Saturday, March 10. Most offices at the Vatican were closed throughout the week, as the members of the Roman Curia joined Pope John Paul II in the retreat.
As the week-long spiritual exercises drew to a close, Pope John Paul II thanked Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George, OMI, the preacher of the retreat. “In the course of these days of silence and recollection, the personal and sober style adopted by the cardinal allowed the word of the Gospel to stand out with all its strength,” the Pontiff said. He said that the cardinal’s “rich experience as a missionary and a bishop” had given the retreat “an intensely apostolic climate.”
Before beginning the retreat, Cardinal George had told the Italian newspaper Avvenire that the theme of his retreat would be the “new evangelization.” He explained that he would compare the role of the Church today to that of the early Church, since “we are living in the same conditions.” Then as now, he explained, “Christians are a minority.” The faithful of the early Church nevertheless “spoke as if they were a majority,” the cardinal continued, because “they were already conscious of the Church’s universal mission.” This, he said, is a sense that today’s Christians must recapture.
Last year’s preacher for the Vatican retreat was Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. In previous years the preachers have included Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini of Turin (1994), Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna (1996), Cardinal Roger Etchegaray of the Jubilee Committee (1997), and Cardinal Jan Chryzostom Korec of Nitra, Slovakia (1998). Pope John Paul II himself once served as preacher for the Lenten Retreat, at the invitation of Pope Paul VI, when he was Archbishop of Krakow.
Vatican Radio celebrates 70 years
New technical, cultural challenges
The 450 employees of Vatican Radio celebrated the 70th anniversary of the broadcast operation by meeting with Pope John Paul II in the Clementine room of the apostolic palace.
Founded by Pope Pius XI, Vatican Radio was one of the early projects undertaken by the Vatican after the signing of the Lateran accords, which guaranteed papal sovereignty over the small territory of Vatican City. Pope Pius XI asked the noted Italian scientist, Guglielmo Marconi, to set up a radio station inside the Vatican grounds. The new radio station enjoyed its first breakthrough, ironically, upon the death of Pius XI, when Vatican Radio provided the world with updates from the ensuing conclave, and a live broadcast of the first public audience by the newly elected Pope Pius XII.
The Vatican broadcasts enabled prisoners of war to remain in contact with their homelands during World War II. And during the Cold War, authorities behind the Iron Curtain did their best to jam the electronic broadcasts from the Vatican. Thus Vatican Radio became an important symbol of freedom in Eastern Europe.
Today Vatican Radio broadcasts in 40 different languages, reaching around the world with 78 hours of programming each week. These broadcasts include public audiences of the Pope, information about the universal Church, analysis, meditations, and prayer. The broadcasts pay special attention to countries such as Cuba, China, and Vietnam, where public access to reliable news and information is still heavily restricted. Vatican Radio employs 450 people, including 200 journalists from 58 different countries.
In his remarks to the broadcast staff, Pope John Paul II said that Vatican Radio faces two sorts of challenges: technological and editorial. Meeting the technology challenges will require expertise and financial support, he said. The editorial challenges will call for the staff members to use their “intellectual and creative capacities.”
In order to use the airwaves as a form of evangelization, the Pope continued, Vatican Radio must provide “information that is irreproachable on professional grounds, which—through the implicit and explicit commentary that is provided—becomes a catechesis, anchored in the life and experience of the listener.” To provide that form of programming, in turn, will require “solid human, cultural, and professional formation” of the staff, he said, combined with “solid spiritual and missionary motivations.”
The Pope also paid homage to Vatican Radio for “the many services to the Holy See” over the 70 years of its existence. He paid special tribute to Vatican Radio for broadcasting many special events during the Jubilee year, and encouraged the broadcasters to pursue new opportunities for transmitting radio messages over the Internet.