Posted on 04/03/2005 12:34:54 PM PDT by Perdogg
Lagos: The fourth-ranking cardinal in the Vatican and the African with the best chance of succeeding Pope John Paul II began his stellar church career as a child of poor pagan parents in a mud-brick bungalow in the forests of southern Nigeria.
Cardinal Francis Arinze, the 72-year-old Prefect of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, is seen by many as a credible candidate to become the first African to rule the Holy See since the death of Gelasius I in 496 AD.
And if the college of cardinals sitting in the Sistine Chapel does decide that the Holy Spirit has chosen Arinze to lead the Church, the tiny Nigerian farming village of Eziowelle might well become a place of pilgrimage for the world's hundreds of millions of Catholics.
Pilgrims would be best advised to come in the early months of the year, however, as when the rains return at the end of April the track is all but impassible, explained the village priest Father Philip Chinedu Nwafor as he drove his battered old Mercedes Benz into town earlier this year.
"The state government has promised to repair the road," he said, as school children and villagers called out "Father" as he passed along the bumpy track the way to the building at the heart of Eziowelle's 6,000-strong community; the Saint Edward Roman Catholic Church.
It might be a while before the road is repaired - Anambra State is in such crisis that lawmakers meet among the ruins of a state assembly building burned down last year by political thugs - but Eziowelle has something else to be proud of as the world begins to wonder about the papal succession.
"His name will work magic for us. We cannot say when this will be, but we are hopeful that Arinze's name will soon begin to bring the good things of life to the village," declared 68-year-old Celestina Emecheta, who was born four years after Eziowelle's most famous son.
The house where he was born is still standing; a somewhat ramshackle bungalow of mud-brick and rusting corrugated iron, painted in faded chocolate brown and framed on one side by a mango and a pawpaw tree.
A newer, concrete family home stands close by, but Arinze's fame has not brought riches to his relatives. The grave of the cardinal's mother is marked by a simple heap of dark red laterite soil.
"He does not want an elaborate grave for his parents and this grave as it is is an ample demonstration of his simplicity and humility, qualities for which he is known," said Father Philip as he showed a reporter around the village.
Once a year, in August, Cardinal Arinze leaves the marble halls of the Vatican and returns to Eziowelle to stay in the parsonage and celebrate mass in the humble surroundings of Saint Edward's church.
It was here, as an eight-year-old child of parents who worshipped the traditional deities of the Igbo people, that Arinze first heard the teaching of the church from the Reverend Cyprian Micahel Iwene Tansi, a missionary who became his mentor and was in 1998 beatified by Pope John Paul II.
Since those days the village has become a devout and energetic Catholic community, proud to have sent a cardinal, nine priests, 14 reverend sisters and one reverend brother to do the work of the church.
Now, perhaps, Eziowelle could become the first village in sub-Saharan Africa to send a Pope to the Vatican. Many feel Arinze would be the perfect candidate.
He was ordained a priest in November 1958 and eight years later became Africa's youngest bishop, leading the Catholics of the market city of Onitsha, a trading centre on the lowest downstream crossing of the mighty Niger River.
He became an archbishop in 1967 and stayed in Nigeria through its brutal civil war, in which Arinze's Igbo people faced the Nigeria federal army in a losing battle, which saw around a million people die of disease and starvation.
In 1985, the pope summoned him to Rome to work in the Curia - the church's governing body - and he won a reputation as an able diplomat and a staunch defender of the conservative values championed by the present pontiff.
He became an expert on Islam and led the Vatican's interfaith dialogue, a job which some feel could be his key qualification.
John Paul II's reign will be remembered for his role in facing down Communism and championing the cause of Eastern Europe.
The next 20 years will may see the church seeking way a way to live alongside an increasingly restive Muslim world.
Whether this record will be enough to land him the top job remains to be seen, but in Eziowelle his neighbours have faith that the Holy Spirit will make the right choice.
"God put Arinze there as number four in the Catholic hierarchy. We are glad at this. We are happy and will accept whatever God has planned for him," said Chief Igwe Michael Okonkwo-Etusi, the traditional ruler of the village
I doubt it. The divisions are deep in Nigeria with the muzzies forever attacking christians.
The Path to a New Pontiff
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050411/path.html
Irish bookmaker takes bets on next Pope
Monday, April 4, 2005
http://www.deepikaglobal.com/ENG4_sub.asp?ccode=ENG4&newscode=98305
The highest bet so far has been... on bookies' favourite Dionigi Tettamanzi at 5-1... Odds on 71-year-old Tettamanzi being Pope now stand at 5-2. Cardinal-archbishop of Milan, Tettamanzi is top of the list of Italian candidates to succeed Pope John Paul II... Nigeria's Francis Arinze is the punters' second choice at 11-4, followed by Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras at 4-1 and then Germany's Joseph Ratzinger at 7-1... Odds shortened on George Pell after an Australian radio station campaigned to improve their countryman's rankings from 150-1. Odds on him being the next Pope now stand at 40-1... This has left Jose Maria Rouco Varela of Spain the outside -- genuine -- candidate at 80-1.
I'm Protestant, but I've been praying for a conservative Pope. (hope y'all don't mind) What the Pope says and does, whether we like it or not, has an effect on Christendom. Don't want a Robinson-type on the throne.
Arinze sounds as if he has strong convictions like his Christian brothers in the Anglican church.
Well, being that the Pope serves till death, there is reason why they pick older men to be Popes.
as noted, no one has a clue. The choice of Francis Arinze might be a choice which would strengthen the church in the US at least as much as Africa, which is a growth area for the RCC.
Radical Brazilian cardinal leads succession race
Christopher Morgan and John Follain
April 03, 2005
The Sunday Times - Britain
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-1552381,00.html
I read something today about a cardinal from the Czech republic?
Theres 20 or more in the running......just guessing on my part......
The oldest was Arinze.
Agree!! We must have younger Popes... having said that, I'm just praying for someone who will shake things up and move the church forward without compromising our core values.
I didn't know the one in Austria was a Czech Cardinal.....he's my SWAG on the next pope.
Especially since he is not Catholic...like it would make a difference anyway.
No, let's leave this one up to The Holy Ghost. And hope he has a firm hold on some of the libs in the conclave to behave themselves.
Choosing the Nigerian would be a good way to stop the spread of Islam in Africa.
FWIW, I think you're right. He's also familiar to Moslem leaders, and would have reasonably good relations with him. But in any case, I'm an optimist. We've seen the highwater mark for Islam.
I had an interesting conversation with someone who said they felt the next Pope would be an in-between safe Pope that would continue what JP2 has done. Probably could go 10-12 years, then a younger Pope will be elected.
Interesting concept.
Interesting. Alot of people on Fox and Friends this morning were saying they think it might be a Spanish pope. Soo much speculation is going to come in the next few weeks. Going to be very interesting to watch!
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