Archbishop
Thomas Collins of Toronto, the head of the country’s largest Roman
Catholic community, was not named Cardinal this morning at the Vatican.
It had been widely expected that he would be named this month. Within in
the next 18 months to two years more spots will be opening and some
observers believe Archbishop Collins will be picked during the next
selections.
Ten of the 24 new Cardinals
are Italian and most are older than Archbishop Collins who is 63. There
is some sense that because he is still relatively young, he could wait
another few years.
On Tuesday, he had been mentioned on lists of “most probable” by Vatican insiders.
“One surprise omission was Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto,
Canada, who was widely expected to be on the list. At 63, however,
there’s plenty of time for Collins to be named in a future
consistory,” wrote John Allen on the National Catholic Reporter. Mr.
Allen is one of the most highly respected reporters covering the
Vatican.
The appointment would have followed a 60-year-old tradition of Toronto archbishops being made cardinals.
The Archbishop is in Rome where he has been attending a synod on the plight of Christians in the Middle East.
“In a nutshell, [Archbishop] Collins is one of the most prayerful,
unpretentious, generous, happy and holy prelates I’ve ever been blessed
to know,” Rocco Palmo, one of the top Church analysts in North America,
said earlier this month .
“That he’s gone on to lead Canada’s largest
and most diverse local church — its Catholic population quickly
approaching two million — never ceases to be astonishing, simply
because he’s remained his priceless, earthy, clear and charitable self
throughout.
It is known that Pope Benedict regards Archbishop Collins with great
faith and confidence, a respect that was reinforced when he gave him
the Toronto job in 2007.
Since 1946, every Toronto archbishop save one has gone on to be a
cardinal. In January, retired Toronto Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic turned
80, which means he is no longer allowed to vote in papal conclaves.
But aside from circumstances, insiders say Archbishop Collins has
shown leadership in the Church at a time when many thought Catholic
leaders were stumbling.
Just before Easter, he told 400 priests at St. Michael’s Cathedral
not to describe the fury over abuse scandals as an invention of the
media.
“We cannot escape the horror of this by pointing out that almost all
priests serve faithfully — though that fact is a grace that gives joy
to the Catholic people,” Archbishop Collins said in his homily.
“But
even one priest gone wrong causes immense harm, and throughout the
world priests have done unspeakable evil.”
He told reporters later that day: “We should be grateful for the attention which the media devotes to
the sins of the Catholic clergy, even if constant repetition may give
the false impression that Catholic clergy are particularly sinful. That
attention is a profound tribute to the priesthood … People
instinctively expect holiness in a Catholic priest, and are especially
appalled when he does evil.”
The story made national and international news.
Even The New York Times, not always known to for its
friendliness towards the Church, listed Archbishop Collins as one of the
Catholic leaders who “gets it.”
In June, he was appointed along with nine other bishops to help
investigate the situation in Ireland and report on what the Irish
Church’s response has been to the sexual abuse crisis, another sign of
the Vatican’s respect for his judgment and leadership.
At present the only cardinal in Canada is Jean-Claude Turcotte of
Montreal. Just this past summer, Cardinal Marc Ouellet left Quebec City
to take up the critical position of advising Pope Benedict on the
appointment of bishops.
The complete list of new Cardinals:
– Italian Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints Causes, a Salesian, 72. (DOB 6/8/1938)
– Coptic Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria, Egypt, 75. (DOB 3/7/1935)
– Guinean Archbishop Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, 65. (DOB 6/15/1945)
– Italian Archbishop Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, 76. (DOB 5/28/1934)
– Italian Archbishop Fortunato Baldelli, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, 75. (DOB 8/6/1935)
– U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, head of Apostolic Signature, 62. (DOB 6/30/1948)
– Swiss Archbishop Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, 60. (DOB 3/15/1950)
– Italian Archbishop Paolo Sardi, pro-patron of Knights of Malta, 76. (DOB 9/1/1934)
– Italian Archbishop Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for Clergy, 66. (DOB 9/15/1944)
– Italian Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, president of the Prefecture
for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, a Scalabrinian, 75. (DOB
9/19/1935)
– Italian Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, 68. (DOB 10/18/1942)
– Zambian Archbishop Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, retired archbishop of Lusaka, 79. (DOB 9/24/1931)
– Ecuadorean Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, retired archbishop of Quito, 76. (DOB 1/1/1934)
– Congolese Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, 71. (DOB 10/7/1939)
– Italian Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo, 72. (DOB 2/20/1938)
– U.S. Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, 69. (DOB 11/12/1940)
– Brazilian Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, 73. (DOB 2/15/1937)
– Polish Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz of Warsaw, 60. (DOB 2/1/1950)
– Sri Lankan Archbishop Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don of Colombo, 62. (DOB 11/15/1947)
– German Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, 57. (DOB 9/21/1953)
– Spanish Archbishop Jose Manuel Estepa Llaurens, former military ordinary of Spain, 84. (DOB 1/1/1926)
– Italian Bishop Elio Sgreccia, retired president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, 82. (DOB 6/6/1928)
– German Msgr. Walter Brandmuller, retired president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, 81. (DOB 1/26/1929)
– Italian Msgr. Domenico Bartolucci, retired director of the Sistine Chapel Choir, 93. (DOB 5/7/1917)
SIC: NP/INT'L