Arinze, Papabile!

"It is not true that young people of today are allergic to a life of sacrifice. But they want to be convinced why they should sacrifice marriage and earthly goods and give up doing their own will. Above all, they want to see people who are role models," Arinze said yesterday.

"Young women do not want to join a group of old women who seem to be confused [about their mission]. Young men do not want to join a diocese where the priests seem to be angry."

He compared nuns who did not want to wear religious garb to a flight attendant for Alitalia who wanted to wear the uniform of American Airlines. "What do you think Alitalia is going to say? Let's dialogue?" he asked, to laughter from his audience.

Yes, Cardinal! And we look to men and women like our Holy Father, yourself, Msgr. Giussani, Mother Teresa, the Sisters of Life, and the Nashville Dominicans. You show us the way to Christ!

Comments

[ben]

I had the opprotunity to attend the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion where the Good Cardinal Arinze presided a couple of years ago here in Denver. I can tell you that this man has a very saintly quality of seeming both very great and very small that I have noticed in many of the most holy people I know.

[Nathan]

I've been hoping for quite some time that when, God forbid, the Holy Father passes on, Cardinal Arinze will become the next Pope. Of course, that decision is left to the Holy Spirit, and I trust His wisdom waaaay more than mine, but I just really like Cardinal Arinze. I've found some of the Cardinals, like Cardinal Ratzinger for instance, to be somewhat abrasive -- not bad, mind you, but somewhat abrasive.

That's not the case with Cardinal Arinze, who is very light and humorous, but also very firm. I think he'd make a wonderful Pope, and I think a lot of the abuses being committed worldwide -- liturgical and otherwise -- would end under his papacy.

But in any event, that's up to the Holy Spirit. I trust that He will give the Church the Pope it needs when the time comes.

[Stephen]

Nathan, to soften your impression of Cardinal Ratzinger, I once heard a gret story of him from Msgr. Albacete.

Albacete and Ratzinger are friends and were together at a meeting in Rome for the New Ecclesial Movements. There were a ton of movements there and a group of them were from France called the "Joie de Lyon" and "Joie de Paris" and the "Joie de Marseille".

Well, Albacete tells Ratzinger that he is going to start his own movement called the "Joie de Times Square." And Ratzinger says, "Ah, very good, what is your charism?" And Albacete says "Devotion to the Virgin." And Ratzinger says, "Ah, the Mother of God, that is always admirable." to which Albacete responds "No! Devotion to the Virgin Record Store in Times Square. We will meet every week at the Virgin Record store and browse the collection of CDs."

He says Ratzinger then walked off and when he caught up to him he had writtend "Joie de Times Square" at the bottom of the sign of the official list of Movements present at the Conference. Albacete says that the rest of the weekend people kept inquiring about the "Joie de Times Sqaure." What a hoot!