Benedict XVI. on Saturday admitted 24 new members to the College of Cardinals. our site introduces the pope's new senators.
Angelo Amato (72), Vatican
As prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Salesian archbishop was considered a firm candidate for the College of Cardinals. The theologian, who hails from Apulia in southern Italy, was previously secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for three years and one of the closest collaborators of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current pope.
Amato was ordained on 8. Bartolucci was born in Molfetta, near Bari, on June 1938
ordained priest in 1967. After earning a licentiate in theology at Rome's Salesian University and a doctorate at the Gregorian University, he became a professor at his religious university. Between 1997 and 2000 he was also vice rector there.
At the end of 2002, Pope John Paul II appointed. made him archbishop and made him the "second man" at the authority of the faith, to which he already belonged before as advisor. In the summer of 2008, Amato became head of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Fortunato Baldelli (75), Vatican
Baldelli has an office that sounds unusual to non-Catholics:
As grand penitentiary, he is responsible for overturning severe church punishments and granting indulgences. Because it's a high-profile job in the Catholic Church, Baldelli was considered a shoo-in for the next round of cardinal elevations when he was appointed in June 2009.
Before moving to Rome, he represented the Holy See for ten years as ambassador in Paris, one of the important nunciatures. Overall, the 6. Born in Valfabbrica near Perugia in August 1935, the central Italian looks back on a diplomatic career of more than four decades. In the process, he served as nunciature official in Cuba and Egypt, as permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, then as envoy to Angola and ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe, the Dominican Republic and Peru.
Domenico Bartolucci (93), Vatican
Over the biblical span of 40 years, Bartolucci has served as choirmaster of the Cappella Sistina for major papal liturgies. Now, 13 years after his retirement, the prelate is being awarded the rank of cardinal, as it were, for his life's work. At 93, he occupies fourth place in the age ranking of purple bearers.
Ecclesiastical vocal music learned Bartolucci, at the 7. Born on May 1917 in Borgo San Lorenzo, Tuscany, he was educated from the bottom up as a seminarian in Florence. At the age of only 25, he moved to Rome for further studies and took up his first posts as choirmaster in the Lateran Basilica and in Santa Maria Maggiore.
In 1957, Pope Pius XII appointed. him to become chapel master of the Sistina. At the head of the traditional Schola, founded by Gregory the Great (509-604), Bartolucci made a name for himself as a Palestrina interpreter. Actually, his appointment was for life. After the reform of the Curia, however, he had to resign at the age of 80.
Raymond Leo Burke (62), Vatican
Burke joins the College of Cardinals as Prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, a U.S. citizen. On 27. Born June 1948 in Richland, Wisconsin, he studied in his homeland and at the Gregorian University in Rome – as an alumnus of the College of North America. In 1975, Burke was ordained a priest in St. Peter's Basilica for his home diocese of La Crosse. He then took on various pastoral duties there before earning his doctorate in Rome.
After returning home again, he became vice chancellor of the diocese and bishop of La Crosse in 1994. He was also consecrated bishop by the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica. In 2003, Burke moved to Saint Louis as archbishop. Since mid-2008, he has been prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature.
Walter Brandmuller (81), church historian
Brandmuller's nomination shows the pope's esteem for a deserving church historian. The 81-year-old is one of four churchmen over the age of 80 who Benedict XVI. The SPD is counting on the SPD's support for the election of a new cardinal. The on 5. January 1929 in Ansbach born church historian was of
1998 to 2009 president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, of which he had been a member since 1981.
Before his appointment to Rome by Pope John Paul II. Brandmuller was Professor of Medieval and Modern Church History at the University of Augsburg from 1971 to 1997. From 1969 to 1971, he worked at the Philosophical-Theological University in Dillingen, Germany. The Apostolic Protonotary also served for more than 25 years as parish priest in the village of Walleshausen, 25 kilometers south of Augsburg. In 1953, he was ordained a priest in the archdiocese of Bamberg.
As president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, he devoted himself to the "Galileo" case and the role of the Catholic Church during the Nazi era and the pontificate of Pius XII, among other things. On 13. November he was consecrated bishop.
Raymundo Damasceno Assis (73), Aparecida
As head pastor of Aparecida, Damasceno is responsible for one of the largest Marian shrines in the world. The national shrine has, among other things, some of its own media. Damasceno himself, on the other hand, is a rather reserved contemporary who does not seem to enjoy making a grand entrance. However, he should not be underestimated.
He has been president of the Latin American Episcopal Council CELAM since 2007 and archbishop of Aparecida since 2004. In this function he was the host of the pope on his trip to Brazil in 2007.
The 15. Born in February 1937, Damasceno was ordained a priest in 1968 and a bishop in 1986. Previously he had studied in Rome and Munich, among other places, which is why he also speaks German and Italian. He had already amed various functions in CELAM before the presidency and was, among other things, its secretary general from 1991 to 1995. He then took over the office of secretary general of the Brazilian Bishops' Conference for eight years.
Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens (84), Spain
Outside the Spanish Church, Estepa is little known, but for the former prefect of the faith and current pope, he is a bit of a companion. For the bishop, who comes from Andujar in Andalusia, was part of the six-member editorial committee that published the Catechism of the Catholic Church under Cardinal Ratzinger's leadership. Estepa was also responsible for the Spanish edition of the Handbook of the Faith.
Burke, who took over as archbishop on 1. January 1926 born theologian to do with the Vatican: 1971 appointed him Paul VI. as a consultant to the Congregation for the Clergy, later becoming a full member. In 1977 and 1991, Estepa participated in major synods of bishops in Rome.
When nominated as a cardinal, Benedict XVI named him. him with the title he held from 1983 to 2003 – military archbishop of Spain. Estepa experienced his most difficult hour in this office just a few months before his retirement, when a Spanish military plane crashed on the way back from Afghanistan and 62 soldiers were killed. Today, the churchman is still Grand Prior of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.
Kurt Koch (60), Vatican
Presidents of Vatican councils do not automatically or ex officio receive the cardinal's trappings. However, the fact that the head of the Ecumenical Ministry is given this highest ecclesiastical title is an indication of the eminent importance the pope attaches to dialogue with the other churches and Judaism. So Koch, even though he has only led the Unity Council for a few weeks, moves into the Church Senate – as the fourth Swiss after Gilberto Agustoni (88), Georges Marie Cottier (88) and Henri Schwery (78).
Born on 15. March 1950 in Emmenbrucke in the canton of Lucerne, Koch studied theology in Lucerne and Munich. In 1982 he was ordained priest, and in 1989 he became professor of dogmatics and liturgical studies at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed and consecrated. named him bishop of Basel, between
In 2007 and 2009, he was president of the Swiss Bishops' Conference.
Koch has held a Vatican office since 2002 as a member of the Unity Council. In 2004 he hosted Pope John Paul II. during his last trip abroad – in Bern. And also in 2009 he acted as host to the Pope, this time Benedict XVI.: At the Bethlehem Baby Hospital, which is also supported by Swiss dioceses. That Benedict XVI. Koch holds in high esteem was already demonstrated by his invitation to deliver the keynote address to the Ratzinger Circle of Students in August 2010.
Reinhard Marx (57), Munich
Almost three years ago, the Westphalian was appointed to the bishop's chair of the Bavarian capital, which was once also held by Pope Benedict XVI. held. Since then, Marx's promotion to the papal senate was foreseeable, as since 1914 all archbishops of Munich-Freising have been granted the cardinalate sooner or later.
The archbishop is a media-savvy expert on social and business ethics. In the German abuse affair, he distinguished himself as a resolute investigator. High-ranking staff members had to take their hats; Ettal Monastery also felt his displeasure.
Since 1. October, Marx, as Magnus Cancellarius of the Catholic University of Eichstatt-Ingolstadt, also has primary ecclesiastical responsibility for the only Catholic university in the German-speaking world, an institution dear to the pope's heart but which has had to go through a leadership crisis in recent years.
Medardo Joseph Mazombwe (79), Lusaka
Only a few months Medardo Joseph Mazombwe can count himself to the exclusive circle of the Pope's electors. On 24. September 2011, the former Archbishop of Lusaka turns 80 and leaves the body that decides on Peter's successors. Zambia thus loses its only potential representative for a conclave.
Nevertheless, Mazombwe's nomination as cardinal is the culmination of a long church career: He was appointed bishop of Chipata at the age of 39, and 25 years later, in 1996, he moved to the head of the capital diocese of Lusaka. Shortly after his 75. birthday he retired.
Mazombwe's biography is associated with a prominent name: the man who consecrated him as bishop as chief consecrator was Emmanuel Milingo – who was finally laicized in Rome after years of scandals about spiritual healings, a public marriage in the Moon sect and unauthorized episcopal ordinations.
Francesco Monterisi (76), Vatican
The office of archpriest of the Roman papal basilica Saint Paul Outside the Walls has only existed for five years. However, from the beginning it was linked to the cardinalate, which is now granted to the former Vatican top diplomat Monterisi. He has been in charge of the church over the tomb of the Apostle of the Nations for a little over a year now.
Monterisi was ordained on 28. Born May 1934 in the southern Italian Adriatic city of Barletta. He was ordained priest in 1957 and became archbishop and nuncio to Korea in 1983. After several years in the Secretariat of State, he went abroad again and in 1993 became the first papal ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 1999, he returned to the Vatican and amed the important post of secretary in the Congregation for Bishops.
Antonios Naguib (75), Patriarch of Alexandria
With the Coptic Catholic patriarch, an Oriental church leader once again moves into the circle of papal electors. Of the soon-to-be four Catholic patriarchs allowed to combine their traditional habit with the cardinal's purple, the Egyptian is the only one among 80. The announcement of his appointment reached him during the Middle East Synod meeting at the Vatican, where he plays a prominent role in moderating the deliberations as general rector.
On 18. Born in March 1935 in Samalout on the lower reaches of the Nile, Naguib went to study in Cairo, 250 kilometers to the north, and returned to his home diocese of Minya as a priest in 1960. This was followed by postgraduate studies in Rome, and then years as a lecturer in biblical studies in Egypt. As bishop of the Eparchy of Minya from 1977, Naguib was particularly committed to the formation of lay collaborators for the teaching of the faith. In 2002 he submitted his resignation for health reasons. Barely four years later, at 71, he made his comeback as patriarch of his church – and now another commitment to the church's central leadership.
Kazimierz Nycz (60), Warsaw
The Archbishop of Warsaw enjoys a reputation in Poland as a good organizer and moderate liberal. However, the head pastor rarely speaks out in day-to-day political debates. He believes that the Church should not tell politicians what to do.
On 1. Born February 1950 in Stara Wies near Oswiecim (Auschwitz), Nycz entered the Krakow seminary at age 17. Pope John Paul II. appointed him auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Krakow in 1988. From 2004 he presided over the Baltic Sea bishopric of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg.
His appointment as Archbishop of Warsaw in 2007 had turbulent
Accompanying circumstances: Nycz "s predecessor in the capital diocese, Stanislaw Wielgus, had announced his resignation on the day of his formal inauguration. The reason for this were secret service contacts during the communist era.
In the Bishops' Conference, Nycz has headed the Commission for Catholic Education since 1999 and is thus responsible, among other things, for religious education in schools.
Velasio De Paolis (75), Vatican
As president of the Vatican Economic Prefecture, De Paolis oversees a particularly difficult and delicate task at the Roman Curia: similar to a "federal audit office," he monitors the Holy See's administrations and prepares the balance sheets. Previously, the 19. September 1935 clergyman born near Latina, Rome, worked as a church lawyer.
From 2003 to 2008, De Paolis was secretary and thus "second man" in the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature. Before his episcopal ordination, he was a professor of canon law at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. Currently he also serves as the pope's special envoy for the religious community "Legionaries of Christ.
Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya (71), Kinshasa
The archbishop of Congo's capital diocese of Kinshasa is one of the continent's most distinguished church leaders. In 1970, the Old Testament scholar became the first African to earn a doctorate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome; he then worked as a professor in Zaire and Kinshasa. Already at the age of 40, Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya was consecrated bishop in 1980. For many years he was president of the Bishops' Conference in the Central African country and president of the All-African Bishops' Council SECAM. In 1992, after the democratization announced by dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the then Prime Minister Monsengwo asked him to make himself available for the office of President of the Parliament.
However, because of his spiritual mission, the archbishop declined to run for office. In 2008, the biblical scholar was special secretary of the World Synod of Bishops at the Vatican. During the wave of violence in Congo in 2008/2009, Monsengwo repeatedly asked the EU, the U.S. and the UN to intervene in the Congo conflict.
Albert Malcom Ranjith Patabendige Don (62), Colombo
The new archbishop of Colombo is considered a conservative. As secretary of the Vatican's Congregation for Divine Worship (2005-2009), Patabendige repeatedly criticized the practice of hand communion. With it goes an increasing weakening of a reverent attitude toward the Blessed Sacrament, the Sri Lankan said.
The one on 15. Born on November 19, 1947, he became auxiliary bishop in Colombo in 1991. From 1995 he headed the diocese of Ratnapura. Pope John Paul II. appointed him nuncio to Indonesia and East Timor in 2004. Patabendige is also a member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.
Gianfranco Ravasi (68), Vatican
Minister of Culture at the Vatican for three years, Ravasi has already made a name for himself as a bridge builder between art and the Church.
By background, the northern Italian, who was born on 18. October 1942, is actually a biblical scholar. After growing up in Merate, Lombardy, he studied theology, specializing in ancient languages. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1966, he taught biblical exegesis in educational institutions of his archdiocese of Milan, and in 1989 he was appointed director of the Ambrosiana Library and Picture Gallery in Milan.
Ravasi has a good connection not only to the world of culture, but also to the media. Among other things, he was one of the authors of the Italian business newspaper "Il Sole 24 Ore". That Pope Benedict XVI. The fact that the well-read churchman, who freely quotes Rilke and Kant in conversation, had greater things in mind became clear in the spring of 2007 – at that time he commissioned Ravasi with the meditations for the Good Friday Stations of the Cross in the Colosseum. A first major project of the new Vatican chief of culture was the Pope's meeting with some 270 international artists last November. Ravasi plans to bring the Vatican to the Venice Biennale with its own pavilion.
Paolo Romeo (72), Palermo
With Paolo Romeo, a Sicilian again moves into the College of Cardinals. For the past four years, the Vatican's top diplomat has been Archbishop of Palermo. From 2001 to 2006, he was the pope's ambassador to Italy, arguably the Holy See's most important nunciature post.
Romeo on 20. February 1938 born in Acireale near Catania. After studying at the Gregorian University in Rome and several years as a chaplain in his homeland, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1964. His first stops abroad were the Philippines, Belgium, Venezuela, Rwanda and Burundi.
1984 Pope John Paul II. The Vatican made him a bishop in St. Peter's Basilica and sent him to Haiti as nuncio. There he witnessed the 1986 coup and the overthrow of the Duvalier family dictatorship, as well as the 1990 election of the later laicized Catholic cleric Jean-Bertrand Aristide to the presidency. In the same year Romeo moved to Colombia and in 1999 to Canada.
Robert Sarah (65), Vatican
Sarah was appointed by Benedict XVI. appointed president of the Pontifical Council Cor unum in October 2010. The 15. The churchman, who was born in the town of Ourous in the West African country of Guinea on June 15, 1945, is thus a kind of Vatican "development aid minister.
Sarah was ordained a priest in his home diocese of Conakry in 1969 and studied theology and biblical studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and in Jerusalem, among other places. Just ten years after his ordination to the priesthood, in August 1979, John Paul II appointed. Sarah, then 34 years old, as archbishop of Conakry. The West African was the youngest bishop in the world at the time. In 2001, Sarah went to Rome as secretary of the Congregation for Missions.
Sarah will be the second cardinal from Africa currently serving in Rome, along with Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Paolo Sardi (76), Vatican
As Deputy Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, Archbishop Paolo Sardi receives the Cardinal's Pursuit. Since 2004 the north Italian diplomat has held the office of "Vice-Camerlengo. This gives him important notarial functions, especially after the death of a pope. This is what Sardi was like after the death of John Paul II. (1978-2005) involved in the official determination of death and the sealing of the papal apartments.
In addition, the on 1. Born Sept. 1934 in Ricaldone, near Alessandria, Sardi has been pro-patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta for the past two years. In this capacity, he is responsible for the spiritual direction of the influential community of knights, which – like the Holy See – is an international law object in its own right. As a cardinal, he can now call himself patron of the Maltese – without the "pro".
Already Pope Paul VI. (1963-78) had appointed Sardi to the Secretariat of State, giving him special responsibility in intercepting and editing papal speeches – a task he carried out until his recent change of office in 2008. In 1996, John Paul II appointed him. to Nuncio for Special Duties with the title of Archbishop.
Elio Sgreccia (82), Vatican
At 82, Bishop Elio Sgreccia holds no office in the Curia, nor will he be allowed to participate in any future papal election. Nevertheless, Pope Benedict XVI appoints him. to the Cardinal's Circle – in recognition of his services as a bioethics expert and long-time representative of the Pontifical Academy for Life. At the same time as the founding of this institute in 1994, John Paul II had. Sgreccia appointed as vice president, and in 2005 he moved up to the chief post. Even after his retirement in 2008, he continues to be a sought-after contact for Italian media when it comes to questions of the protection of life and the family.
Before his Vatican career, Sgreccia, on 6. Born June 1928 in Arcevia in the Italian Marche, for many years rector of a seminary in Fano on the Adriatic coast. He gained a reputation as a moral theologian with several book publications on bioethics. So, too, was John Paul II. and brought him to the Vatican in 1992, initially as secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Family. Two years later, he amed the leadership role in the Academy for Life.
Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga (76), Quito
With Vela, Ecuador gets a cardinal again. And since he is under 80 years old, he would also be eligible to vote in a future papal election. However, he no longer heads a diocese. In September, Pope Benedict XVI. his request for resignation, presented for reasons of age, to. Vela was ordained on 1. Born January 1934 in Riobamba (Ecuador). He studied theology and philosophy in Quito and then received priestly ordination. Ordained bishop in 1972, he was named bishop of Azogues three years later. From 1981 to 1989, he was a member of the Latin American Episcopal Conference CELAM, where he later took over the department of pastoral and liturgical ministry. In 2003, John Paul II appointed him. Archbishop of Quito.
Donald William Wuerl (70), Washington
The archbishop of the U.S. capital diocese of Washington is considered a man of balance. In the debate over denying communion to Catholic politicians who deviate from church teaching, Wuerl urged a pastoral line and moderating tones in the Bush era. At the same time he is one of the spokesmen of the Catholic position against abortion. As head of the U.S. bishops' conference on faith formation, he ied the new U.S. Catechism even before the World Catechism appeared.
The 12. Wuerl, born November 1940, studied in Pittsburgh and Rome. Two years after ordination to the priesthood, he became private secretary in 1968 to John Wright, later a cardinal of the Curia, for whom he worked for ten years in the Vatican Congregation for the Clergy.
Wuerl became internationally known in late 1985 when the Vatican made him an auxiliary bishop in Seattle – and gave him quite a few of the duties of his archbishop, Raymond Hunthausen. A church investigation had been launched against Hunthausen for controversial statements on sexual morality and peace policy. After just over a year, Wuerl was recalled from Seattle, took a break for some time and was named bishop of his home diocese of Pittsburgh in 1988. In June 2006, he was appointed archbishop of the U.S. capital, where he hosted the pope in 2008.
