His Eminence Gianfranco Ravasi
Posted: Tue Feb 19, 2013 6:42 pm
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will give this year's week of Lenten sermons.
From Whispers In The Loggia:
"While the Lenten retreat has long been seen in Roman circles as a "showcase" for potential future pontiffs – both Cardinals Karol Wojtyla (1976) and Joseph Ratzinger (2002) were respectively tapped to give the exercises before their own elections – from the time of his ascent, Benedict studiously avoided the practice for almost his entire tenure, tapping retired cardinals and priest-professors to conduct six of his eight retreats as Pope.
With the choice of the 70 year-old Italian (who scored headlines recently by confessing a newfound devotion to the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse), only with an eye to his retirement did B16 pick an active cardinal of the Curia to carry out the task. "
From Whispers In The Loggia:
"While the Lenten retreat has long been seen in Roman circles as a "showcase" for potential future pontiffs – both Cardinals Karol Wojtyla (1976) and Joseph Ratzinger (2002) were respectively tapped to give the exercises before their own elections – from the time of his ascent, Benedict studiously avoided the practice for almost his entire tenure, tapping retired cardinals and priest-professors to conduct six of his eight retreats as Pope.
With the choice of the 70 year-old Italian (who scored headlines recently by confessing a newfound devotion to the late British soul singer Amy Winehouse), only with an eye to his retirement did B16 pick an active cardinal of the Curia to carry out the task. "