Twelve to watch as cardinals gather in Rome

UPDATES: Here are more names we’ve added to our list of influential cardinals after we published the article below:

– Boston prelate known for humility, humor, crisis management (Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley)

– Italian cardinal sees holiness, prayer as key to vocations (Cardinal Mauro Piacenza)

– Pastor, educator: Genoa’s Cardinal Bagnasco promotes traditional family (Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco)

– Argentine Cardinal Bergoglio was second on each ballot in last conclave (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio)

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(Originally posted on catholicnews.com)

Editor’s Note: For more on each cardinal, click on the boldface links below.

By Cindy Wooden and Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Wherever journalists and bookmakers may be getting the names on their lists of top candidates for the next pope, it’s not from the cardinals who will actually vote in the election. Both custom and canon law forbid the cardinals to discuss the matter in such detail with outsiders.

Moreover, the true “papabili” — literally, pope-ables — were likely to emerge only after all the worlds’ cardinals began their pre-conclave meetings at the Vatican last week.

One thing is already clear, however: because of their experience and the esteem they enjoy among their peers, certain cardinals are likely to serve as trusted advisers to the rest in the discussions and election.

Here, in alphabetical order, are 12 cardinals expected to have a major voice in the deliberations:

Cardinal Dolan arrives for a general congregation meeting March 7. (CNS/Paul Haring)

– Conventional wisdom has long held that the cardinals will never elect an American pope, lest the leadership of the church appear to be linked with the United States’ economic and geopolitical dominance. But the extroverted and jocular Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 63, charmed and impressed many in the College of Cardinals in February 2012 when he delivered the main presentation at a meeting Pope Benedict XVI had called to discuss the new evangelization. The pope himself praised the New York archbishop’s presentation on how to revive the faith in increasingly secular societies as “enthusiastic, joyful and profound.”

– Although not a familiar name in the press, Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, 60, is a major figure among his peers in Europe, the church’s traditional heartland and the region of more than half the cardinal electors. He was elected to a second five-year term as president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences in 2011.

Cardinal Ouellet arrives for a general congregation meeting March 8. (CNS/Paul Haring)

– Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, 68, is a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, whose members are, strictly speaking, diocesan priests but which is normally considered a religious order. Hence he is one of only 19 members of religious orders among the cardinal electors, who are overwhelmingly diocesan clergy. He is prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, which coordinates the nomination of bishops in Latin-rite dioceses around the world, so his work has brought him into frequent contact with most of his fellow cardinal-electors. As president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, he is well acquainted with one of the church’s largest and fastest-growing regions. The former archbishop of Quebec, who taught at the John Paul II Institute at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University, is also a well-respected theologian.

– Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, 70, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, was the prelate chosen by Pope Benedict to lead his 2013 Lenten retreat, which will make him a prominent voice at the Vatican in the run-up to the election. The cardinal, a scholar with little direct pastoral experience, has been leading the universal church’s efforts to develop a nonconfrontational dialogue with nonbelievers, trying to make Christianity intelligible to the modern mind and build a reason-based consensus on key moral issues.

Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga (CNS file/Paul Haring)

– Another religious, a Salesian, Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, 70, is president of Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella group of national Catholic charities around the world. As a result, many of his peers have come to know the multilingual cardinal as the person spearheading assistance to the neediest of their people. He aroused controversy in 2002 with remarks about clergy sex abuse that struck some as overly defensive of accused priests and the church’s past policies. But he was already widely mentioned as a possible pope before the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict.

– Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 69, was born to parents of Italian descent and has maintained strong ties with both Italy and Argentina. As prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, he is familiar with the challenges facing Eastern Catholics and the pastoral concerns of the church in the Middle East. He has worked in the Vatican for more than a dozen years, and previously served as nuncio to Venezuela and then Mexico. His only experience in a parish was a brief assignment shortly after his ordination as a priest.

Cardinal Sarah  (CNS file/Paul Haring)

– Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, 67, is president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which promotes Catholic charitable giving. He has used his leadership to emphasize Pope Benedict’s teaching that Catholic charitable activity must not be simple philanthropy, but an expression of faith, rooted in prayer and Catholic identity. A scripture scholar and former diocesan bishop, he served nine years as secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

– Another leading voice of the South American church is 63-year-old Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest diocese. The son of German immigrants, he also has strong ties to Rome. He studied philosophy and theology at Rome’s Pontifical Brazilian College and Pontifical Gregorian University and worked as an official of the Congregation for Bishops from 1994 to 2001.

Cardinal Schonborn arrives for a general congregation meeting March 7. (CNS/Paul Haring)

– Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, 68, has known Pope Benedict for almost 40 years, having studied under him at the University of Regensburg, Germany. Even before his former professor became pope, the cardinal was well known at the Vatican and in wider church circles. He was invited in 1996 to preach Blessed John Paul II’s Lenten retreat and was the main editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992. As the church in Austria has struggled with declining attendance and calls for change in some of its most basic disciplines, Cardinal Schonborn’s response has received increasing attention, with some praising his prudence and pastoral sensitivity, and others calling for more decisive action.

– Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola, 71, is the archbishop of Milan, the archdiocese led by both Popes Pius XI and Paul VI when they were elected. He previously served as patriarch of Venice, once the see of Blessed John XXIII. The cardinal, a respected academic theologian rather than a popular preacher, has longstanding ties to one of the new church movements, Communion and Liberation, which is based in his archdiocese.

Cardinal Tagle after being made a cardinal last November. (CNS/Paul Haring)

– Philippine Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila, 55, is one of the youngest and newest members of the College of Cardinals. Although he did not receive his red hat until November 2012, he had already made a name for himself at the world Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in 2008. This leader of one of the world’s fastest-growing churches is a popular speaker with a doctorate in systematic theology and has served on the International Theological Commission, an advisory body to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

– Cardinal Peter Turkson is the 64-year-old former archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, and current president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The cardinal, a biblical scholar who was active in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, has frequently appeared on lists of possible popes. He aroused controversy in 2011 with a proposal for a “world central bank” to regulate the global financial industry, and then in October 2012 when he showed bishops at the Vatican a video warning about the growth of Muslim populations in Europe.

Rome children give Cardinal George a conclave gift

Cardinal George receives a basket of hand-written prayers. (CNS/ Chris Warde-Jones)

ROME (CNS) — The children of the Church of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island gave Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago an icon of the Madonna and Child and asked him to take it with him into the conclave to elect a new pope.

As members of the College of Cardinals spread out over Rome March 10 to celebrate Mass in their titular churches, Cardinal George was at his, surrounded by children and teenagers who fill the little church each Sunday after religious education classes.

St. Bartholomew is not a parish church, but is used by the younger members of the lay Community of Sant’Egidio each Sunday for catechism classes and Mass, and most weekday evenings for vespers. The church also serves as an ecumenical shrine to 20th-century martyrs of communism, Nazism and Latin American dictatorships.

At the beginning of the Mass, Cardinal George told the congregation that the Christian life is full of choices, but it was God who chose them first. He asked for their prayers as he and the other cardinals prepare to meet to choose a new pope.The rector of the church, Father Angelo Romano, gave the homily during the Mass, which marked “Laetare” (Rejoice) Sunday, the midpoint of Lent. He told the children, their teachers and parents that the community rejoices because “Easter is near. But we have another reason to rejoice, too, because of the visit of His Eminence Cardinal George.”

Father Romano said it is an important time for the church; “we draw near to Cardinal George and all the cardinals with our prayers.”

After two children presented the cardinal with the icon, which is a small copy of a larger one found in the church, Cardinal George said, “I want to thank you for the present, and especially for your prayers for me and for all the cardinals. It’s an intense and very important moment for the church, so thank you for your prayers and for your faith.”

Before the Scripture readings were proclaimed, the children came up in procession and kissed the Book of the Gospels. They led much of the music with the beat of drums, guitar strums and rhythmic clapping.

Boston cardinal draws blockbuster crowd of fans to tiny church

ROME (CNS) — It took a “papabile” American cardinal as guest celebrant one Sunday to fill the pews of a small Roman church, which is normally trafficked only by hordes of backpack-slinging tourists.

Instead of dog-eared guidebooks in hand, people were actually looking for hymnals, extra copies of which had to be fetched from the sacristy by parish assistants.

The narrow church, which holds about 100 people, was packed standing-room only on the Fourth Sunday of Lent with both Italians and Americans, and dozens of journalists.

Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston visited his titular church of Santa Maria della Vittoria March 10 with the no-nonsense, businesslike air of a pastor who was there simply to preside over a liturgy.

U.S. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston visits his titular church, Santa Maria della Vittoria, a tiny church more often teeming with tourists than parishioners. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz) (March 10, 2013)

Wearing his bright scarlet cardinal robes, he alighted from a dark sedan with Vatican City State license plates and strode straight up the steps: no waving or fanfare as he moved confidently through the crowd of cameramen.

Once inside, he put on his cornered-biretta hat and sprinkled holy water as he marched down the center aisle to the sacristy.

Little did he know that, while he was there to celebrate Mass for the local community, the people in the pews and the Discalced Carmelites who run the church were there to unabashedly cheer him on as the next pope.

“Eminence, we wish, and I say this with great hope, that this will be your last visit as titular cardinal,” Discalced Carmelite Father Stefano Guernelli, the church’s rector and former provincial superior, told the cardinal in his opening remarks.

He said they were praying for him to be the next pontiff, “however, without trying to push or overturn the Lord’s plans.”

“But you must promise that if our prayers are answered, your first visit as pope” will be back to “our church and yours, Santa Maria della Vittoria,” he said to rousing applause.

The priest said he had been telling journalists that “Cardinal Sean” is a “kind and friendly pastor, humble yet decisive in his actions because he truly loves the church.”

The only thing going against him “perhaps is that you are a friar and a Capuchin at that,” he said tongue-in-cheek, as the bearded Capuchin cardinal smiled.

Speaking with his deep, measured voice, Cardinal O’Malley said Mass and his homily in near perfect Italian, stumbling just a few times on the language’s tricky polysyllabic terms.

Cardinal O’Malley gave his homily in Italian. He asked for prayers the Holy Spirit would help the cardinal electors choose a pope “who will confirm us in the faith and do the utmost possible to make visible the love of the Good Shepherd.” (CNS photo/Carol Glatz) (March 10, 2013)

He began his homily thanking everyone for coming to pray “for our church in these days that are so important for us.”

Known for a sharp wit delivered with a poker face, the cardinal continued off-the-cuff, talking about the time he took possession of the Roman church in 2006 and teased the Carmelites that he was thinking of taking the church’s famed statue of St. Teresa of Avila, sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, back to Boston.

But he said the friars told him Napoleon had tried and, like the emperor, he, too, would fail.

“So it seems to me that (the friars) have never forgiven me” because the church rector wants him to become pope, the cardinal said.

“I want to assure him that after the conclave I will come back as your cardinal and perhaps I will take St. Teresa back to Boston,” he insisted with a wry smile.

He imperceptibly then switched gears to his serious side and gave a homily based on the day’s Gospel reading of the Prodigal Son, noting how many children of God today leave their father’s house — the church — because of “ignorance, a lack of feeling welcome, negative experiences, scandals, spiritual mediocrity” and other reasons.

Just like the father in Jesus’ parable, the church too must demonstrate a welcoming evangelical joy toward its lost sheep “without creating a difficult life toward those who have drifted and who ask to return.”

Because often they have suffered a lot after being far from God and they, like all people, are looking for real joy, the kind only God can give, he said.

Lent is the perfect time to return to one’s family “and feel that joy of being at home,” he said.

He ended his 13-minute homily by praying the Holy Spirit would help him and the other cardinal electors choose a new pope “who will confirm us in the faith, do the utmost possible to make visible the love of the Good Shepherd who goes looking for his lost sheep, to heal the sick and to embrace the prodigal son.”

Giulia Varrasso of Rome, who belongs to a nearby parish, said she had come to Santa Maria della Vittoria because she greatly admired the cardinal and wanted “to know him better.”

Cardinal O’Malley was her pick for pope, she said “because he’s a Franciscan” and she loves his humility, witty and laid-back style, and the religious order’s attention to the “weak and vulnerable.”

“I also like that he’s an American,” who can lead the Vatican out of its old ways of doing things and leave behind “the old mechanisms of power,” she said.

He also can renew the church “because he really understands these scandals” and has fought for more transparency, she said.

“I’m cheering for Cardinal Sean,” said Luigi Segoloni, who is originally from near Assisi, the home of St. Francis.

“We need fresh air, enough with these Italians and Europeans, for goodness sake,” said the Roman resident.

The U.S. cardinal is “very good, he made a very good impression with his homily; he has energy and he’s very fatherly,” said Segoloni.

Daughter of St. Paul Sister Germana Santos, who lived in Boston many years, praised the “very courageous measures” the cardinal took after he arrived at an archdiocese that was reeling from the spiritual and financial fallout of the sex abuse crisis.

“He sold all the prelates’ big residences and moved into the cathedral rectory” — a simple residence where he lived among his own priests “giving them an example of humility” and fraternity, she said.

An Italian woman, who asked her name not be used, said she wanted an American for pope.

Cardinal O’Malley “speaks from the heart.” While there are many good homilists out there, “you can feel his sincerity,” she said.

A conclave cardinal’s life by the clock

(CNS/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY — Here is a translation of the College of Cardinals’ daily schedule for the conclave. All times are Central European Time with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses.

March 12:

3:45 p.m. (10:45 a.m.) — Transfer from the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Apostolic Palace.
4:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m.) — Procession from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel.
4:45 p.m. (11:45 a.m.) — Oaths, meditation by Cardinal Prosper Grech, first ballot.
7:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m.) — Vespers in the Sistine Chapel.
7:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m.) — Transfer to the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
8 p.m. (3 p.m.) — Dinner.

March 13-15 or until election of a pope:

6:30-7:30 a.m. (1:30-2:30 a.m.) — Breakfast.
7:45 a.m. (2:45 a.m.) — Transfer to the Pauline Chapel.
8:15 a.m.-9:15 a.m. (3:15 a.m.-4:15 a.m.) — Mass in the Pauline Chapel.
9:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m.) — Prayer and two rounds of voting.
12:30 (7:30) — Transfer to the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
1 p.m. (8 a.m.) — Lunch.
4 p.m. (11 a.m.) — Transfer to the Apostolic Palace.
4:50 p.m. (11:50 a.m.) — Two more rounds of voting.
7:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m.) — Vespers in the Sistine Chapel.
7:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m.) — Transfer to the Domus Sanctae Marthae.
8 p.m. (3 p.m.) — Dinner.

Conclave smoke signal timetable

Vatican firefighters put the chimney in place this morning. (CNS/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY — For smoke watchers the world over, the cardinal electors were given the outline of their daily conclave schedules this morning.

Given their time for breakfast, Mass and lunch; time for a rest and a return to the Sistine Chapel, then the time for evening prayer and dinner, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman gave some broad indications on when to be in St. Peter’s Square to gaze at the chimney on roof of the Sistine Chapel or to watch on TV or the internet cameras fixed on the chimney.

The times below are listed in European Central Time. Remember, Europe — unlike the United States — does NOT go on Daylight Saving Time March 10.

When the balloting is unsuccessful — no candidate reaches the 2/3 votes needed for election — two votes are taken in the morning and two are taken in the afternoon. The two morning or two afternoon ballots are burned together, so there are only two smoke signals a day.

The first smoke signal can be expected about 7 p.m. Tuesday, after the first vote.

Beginning Wednesday, smoke would be expected at about noon and again about 7 p.m.

However, if a pope is elected on the first ballot of the morning, the white smoke would billow forth between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. If he is elected on the first ballot of the afternoon, the white smoke would be seen between 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m.

After a white smoke signal, it takes about 40-45 minutes before the announcement of the name of the candidate who won. He must accept the office, change to white vestments and the cardinals pledge their obedience and pray again.

Hurry up and wait

Worker prepares Sistine Chapel for conclave. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)

VATICAN CITY — There were plenty of mixed feelings at the Vatican in recent days.

Tweeting cardinals are no longer talking to the media

The sense of urgency in starting the conclave was going against the idea that choosing a new pope requires ample time for discernment, contemplation, prayer and also conversation.

But Rome itself seems a contradiction. The recent days have been both sunny and rainy. Fast cars and motorcycles zoom across the ancient cobblestone streets. Litugical vestment stores bump up against high-end fashion stores and tourist shops sell postcards, T-shirts, magnets and snow globes along with rosaries, holy cards, crosses and images of Pope John Paul II and retired Pope Benedict XVI.

The interregnum by its very nature also produces mixed feelings, as Father Gustavo Castillo, a priest from the Los Angeles Archdiocese pointed out. Father Castillo, currently studying in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas, known as the Angelicum, said he still feels an “emptiness” after the resignation of Pope Benedict but at the same time he has hope that a young pope will be elected who will “have the strength to deal with the things the church has to face.”

Like it or not, the Vatican has entered the digital age

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, in a recent photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY — The news yesterday that cardinals preparing for the upcoming papal election had agreed to a gag order — after two days of increasingly popular press briefings by U.S. cardinals — immediately aroused protests that the Vatican had stifled a salutary move toward greater openness.

But the very manner in which the news broke illustrates why church leaders (like any other person or group under media scrutiny today) can no longer hope to manage news coverage by 20th-century means.

Hundreds of reporters were sitting in the Vatican press hall for the regular mid-day briefing led by the director, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, when many of us received a brief email message on our smart-phones. Sister Mary Ann Walsh, director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, had written to announce that a press briefing with two U.S. cardinals scheduled for one hour later had been canceled.

As soon as Father Lombardi began taking questions, one of our colleagues, Philip Pullella of Reuters, asked if the cancellation had been requested by the Vatican or discussed by the assembled cardinals at their meeting that morning.

Father Lombardi, who had not mentioned the matter in his presentation, was obviously prepared for the question, which he answered with a careful explanation of the need for increasing levels of privacy as a conclave draws nearer. But he did not specify whether a new policy had been established, or if so by whom.

Reporters were still in the press hall when Sister Walsh sent another email, 19 minutes after her first, in reply to a query from Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times, explaining that the assembled cardinals had agreed to stop giving interviews as a precaution prompted by “leaks of confidential proceedings reported in Italian newspapers.”

This message arrived in time for John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter to ask the penultimate question of the briefing, a request for confirmation and clarification of Sister Walsh’s statement. Father Lombardi demurred, essentially confining himself to repeating his earlier remarks.

The U.S. bishops’ spokeswoman was clearly not seeking to disrupt or distract from the work of her counterpart at the Holy See, but needed to act quickly to prevent a stampede of quote-hungry journalists from arriving at an empty dais.

Nevertheless, thanks to 21st-century information technology, the result was that a Vatican press briefing had been taken over by the simultaneous back and forth between reporters and Sister Walsh. Just a small incident, but one that epitomizes the communications challenge the church faces in an age of merciless transparency and vanishing privacy.

Prophecy of the popes

By Lauren Colegrove

Catholic News Service

Medallion of future pope to be placed in slot next to retired Pope Benedict XVI.
An empty slot indicates where a medallion of the future pope will be placed next to retired Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor Blessed John Paul II in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. The upper basilica walls contain medallions of all 265 popes (CNS photo/ Paul Haring).

VATICAN CITY– While many people are making conjectures about the future in order to anticipate who will be the next pope, others are looking back to the writings of a 12th century Irish bishop to see if the prediction has already been made.

Saint Malachy O’Morgair, whose biography was written by his contemporary St. Bernard of Clairvaux, became a priest and eventual archbishop in Ireland during the early 1100s. Described as a strong promoter of morality and religious zeal, Malachy is said to have had “the spirit of prophecy” and has had numerous miracles attributed to him, including the healing of the son of a Scottish king.

In 1139 Malachy traveled to Rome to meet with Pope Innocent II, and according to writer Abbe Cucherat it is there that he had his visions of the papal prophecies. Legend has it that the pope was given the writings of Malachy’s revelations and placed the record in the Vatican archives, where it was “discovered” four centuries later by Benedictine historian Arnold de Wyon.

The prophecy describes 112 popes and antipopes in cryptic verses, beginning with the phrase “from a castle of the Tiber” which is attributed to the birthplace of Pope Celestine II. Verse 111 depicts the “glory of the olive,” which is usually connected to Pope Benedict XVI since his papal name refers to the founder of the Benedictine Order, which has a monastic branch called the Olivetans.

The end of the prophecy portrays “Peter the Roman, who will pasture his sheep in many tribulations, and when these things are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people.”

Because of the placement of the last few lines of text, interpreters of the prophecy are uncertain whether there are supposed to be other popes between the “prophecy of the olive” and the reign of “Peter the Roman,” and analyses of the text widely vary. Although no pope has been called by the  name Peter since the time of the disciples, there is speculation that the prophecy could be referring to Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who gained the nickname “Peter the Roman” because of his studies in Rome.

Because St. Bernard’s biography of Malachy does not mention the specific prophecy and there is no documentation of it prior to its publication in 1595, many historians believe that the prophecy is a forgery from the late 16th century. Some people claim that the prophecy was created in order to influence a 16th century conclave, while others believe that even if Malachy did not write the prophecy the predictions are still compelling.

While the authenticity of the “Prophecy of the Popes” may be uncertain, it is undeniable that centuries later the trend of predicting who will be next in the long line of successors of Peter has not lost its appeal.

Lauren Colegrove is an intern in the CNS Rome bureau while she attends Villanova University’s Rome program.

Venezuelan president changed nation, had rocky relations with bishops

By Ezra Fieser

Catholic News Service

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CNS) — Hugo Chavez, a socialist president who transformed Venezuela while acting as chief protagonist in what was one of the worst Catholic Church-government relationships in Latin America, died March 5. He was 58.

Chavez died of complications from a respiratory infection nearly two years and four surgeries after his cancer diagnosis was made public. He flew to Cuba for his fourth surgery in early December and developed post-surgical complications, including bleeding and a lung infection, doctors said.

Images of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez held up at a recent rally in Caracas. (CNS photo/Reuters)

On April 5, 2012, Holy Thursday, shortly before his third surgery for cancer, Chavez attended a Catholic Mass in Barinas, the state in western Venezuela where he was born and where his brother, Adan Chavez Frias, is now governor. Wearing a rosary and dressed in a blue and white tracksuit, Chavez pleaded for his life.

“I ask God to give me life, however painful. I can carry 100 crosses, your crown of thorns, but don’t take me yet. I still have things to do,” he said, according to press reports.

Catholic leaders spoke of Chavez’s relationship with the church and his legacy for Venezuelans.

“The people of Venezuela held him up, considered him a public leader that they felt a connection to; someone they were close with,” said Auxiliary Bishop Jesus Gonzalez de Zarate of Caracas, secretary-general of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference. There was “great hope for his recovery and that he would serve his third term.”

Chavez, a former military lieutenant colonel, gained attention as leader of a failed coup in 1992. In 2000 he was elected president. He was due to be inaugurated for his third six-year term Jan. 10, but because of his illness he was never sworn in.

During his 13 years in office, he placed price caps on products sold by multinational companies and food basics. Chavez’s critics, including many church leaders, said his programs were inefficient and indoctrinated poor Venezuelans in socialist philosophy.

Those programs won him political popularity among the poor, but with food basics, like milk and sugar, in short supply, the cost of some products rising with runaway inflation, and a high crime rate, his support within the poor neighborhoods waned.

The roughly 90,000 mostly poor, mostly Catholic Venezuelans that live in Carcacas’ 23 de Enero neighborhood have mixed feelings about Chavez’s legacy, said Franciscan Father Angel Antonio Tornero, pastor at Cristo Rey Parish.

“There have been many improvements to infrastructure and the community. The prices of food are lower. Chavez has support from many for the work that his government has done,” Father Tornero said. “But there are contradictions. There are shortages of food, and many people feel like the government ignores their needs.”

Tornero said the government has slashed funding to Catholic schools in the barrio, leaving them in a “financial crisis.”

Church leaders said the church’s relationship with the president was complicated, if not at times downright nasty.

“There were years that were difficult, tense,” said Bishop Gonzalez de Zarate. “There were attacks and strong responses. … But I feel that there was a calming in the past year.”

He said that in the second half of 2012, the bishops’ conference held two meetings with top Chavez government officials, including Vice President Nicolas Maduro, whom Chavez tapped as his successor.

In July, Chavez called the conference and suggested he was open to a face-to-face meeting, which would have been the first in at least six years, Bishop Gonzalez de Zarate said.

Chavez first won election in 1998, promising a Cuban-influenced socialist “Bolivarian revolution.” He used the nation’s oil resources and a ballooning national debt to fund social programs that cut the South American country’s poverty rate.

Initially, the relationship between Chavez and church leaders seemed warm. But it did not take long for things to sour.

Church leaders lent support to a short-lived coup that overthrew Chavez for 48 hours in 2002, saying he was abusing power and eroding democratic institutions. They kept up their criticism and, several years later, some Chavez supporters said that, with the hierarchy’s almost obsessive opposition to the president, the bishops had distanced themselves from poor Venezuelans.

One community activist told Catholic News Service: “I agree there should be criticisms” of the government, “but constructive criticism that unites instead of separating.”

The war of words continued, with successive Venezuelan Catholic leaders criticizing the president, who returned the criticism.

More recently, Chavez had suggested he was willing to mend relations with church leaders. In a July interview with Venezuelan state-owned television, he said, “hopefully we can manage to establish a good relationship with the Catholic hierarchy and to work together for the country.

“The church can contribute much along with the government in the fight against poverty, misery and crime,” he said.

Bishop Gonzalez de Zarate said that Chavez had “opened the door” to improved relations.

“I’m not saying we have had fluid relations with the government, but there has been improvement,” he said.

Born July 28, 1954, as the second of seven children of schoolteachers, Chavez was raised by his grandmother, a devout Catholic. He was an altar boy at his local church in a rural village in Barinas. As a child, he reportedly had always thought that he would become a priest.

As an adult, has described himself as a “Christian” whose policies are based on the teachings of Jesus Christ.

He used religion to win support from religious groups that helped elect him president in three consecutive elections.

“You have to take into account the evangelical card, which is his support base,” Nikolas Kozloff, author of “Hugo Chavez: Oil, Politics and the Challenge to the U.S.,” said in an email several months before the president’s death. “Chavez has his own brand of Christian socialism, and he plays up the Christ martyr complex in his rhetoric.”

Cardinal Mahony says Vatican told him to attend conclave

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles, waits for the start of Pope Benedict XVI’s final general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Feb. 27. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

UPDATED WITH VATICAN REACTION

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Cardinal Roger M. Mahony expressed “amazement” at calls that he withdraw from the upcoming papal conclave because of his record on clergy sex abuse, and said that the Vatican, acting through its ambassador to the United States, had instructed him to take part in the election of the next pope.

“I’m here because the Holy Father appointed me a cardinal in 1991, and the primary job of a cardinal, the number one job, is actually the election of a new pope should a vacancy occur,” the cardinal told Catholic News Service Feb. 28, two days after arriving in Rome.

“Without my even having to inquire, the nuncio in Washington phoned me a week or so ago and said, ‘I have had word from the highest folks in the Vatican: you are to come to Rome and you are to participate in the conclave’,” the cardinal said.

The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, replied to a request for comment that the cardinal’s statement “can be understood in light of the communique of the Secretariat of State that insisted on the importance of not giving in to external pressures that might limit the freedom of the electors and the conclave.”

The communique in question, issued Feb. 23, defended the electors’ freedom as a “guarantee of a choice … based on evaluations addressed solely for the good of the church,” and condemned attempts to influence the papal election “through public opinion that is often based on judgements that do not typically capture the spiritual aspect of the moment that the church is living.”

Advocates for sex-abuse victims have urged Cardinal Mahony, 77, to abstain from voting in the election of a successor to Pope Benedict XVI because of evidence that he mishandled cases of pedophile priests during his time as archbishop of Los Angeles.

Acting under court order Jan. 31, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released thousands of pages of personnel files which suggest that Cardinal Mahony, who retired as archbishop in 2011, worked to protect accused priests from criminal investigation beginning in the 1980s.

The cardinal’s successor, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, cited the files when he announced that Cardinal Mahony would “no longer have any administrative or public duties” in the archdiocese. Archbishop Gomez later added that the cardinal remains a bishop in “good standing,” with “full rights to celebrate the holy sacraments of the church and to minister to the faithful without restriction.”

Cardinal Mahony said he was “amazed” at the controversy over the Los Angeles files, claiming that the salient information about sex abuse in them could be found in a 22-page report available on the archdiocese’s website since 2004.

“There are some new things in the files that came out, but as far as I know I don’t find anything in there disqualifying,” he said.

The cardinal said that criticisms of his record on sex abuse unfairly applied latter-day standards to what was normal practice at the time.

“People say, ‘well, why didn’t you call the police?’ In those days no one reported these things to the police, usually at the request of families,” he said. “What I did in those years was consistent with what everybody did, in the Boy Scouts, in public schools, private schools, across the country.”

Cardinal Mahony arrived in Rome the day after Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien, 74, announced he would not participate in the conclave because he did not want media attention focused on him, following reports that three priests and a former priest had accused him of “inappropriate conduct” with them going back to the 1980s.

(On March 3, Cardinal O’Brien publicly asked forgiveness for “times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal,” and announced that he would “play no further part in the public life of the Catholic Church in Scotland.”)