Posted on 10/20/2008 10:52:31 AM PDT by NYer
Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City is earning kudos for the skills he’s displaying as relator-general of the Synod of Bishops on the Word of God.
Part of the work of the relator-general is, at the synod’s mid-point, to coalesce the scores of presentations made by the assembled bishops and invited guests in order to help orient the second half of the synod to its task of making specific recommendations to present to Pope Benedict XVI.
Here’s Basilian Father Thomas Rosica’s assessment in Zenit News Service about how well the French-Canadian cardinal discharged that key synod duty:
“I have always had great respect and admiration for Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the archbishop of Quebec and the relator-general of this world Synod of Bishops on the Word of God,” said Father Rosica, who is serving as is the Vatican’s English-language press attache at the synod. “What he did today in the Aula, in the presence of the entire assembly and Benedict XVI, was a real ‘tour de force’ that left many people spellbound.
“He had already delivered the opening talk of the synod in Latin last Monday, in which he outlined the major themes and directions of the present synod. This evening he delivered — in flawless Latin — a 70-minute talk called the ‘Relatio post disceptationem’ (the lecture following the discussion).
“Most people would need a month to process everything we have heard over the past 10 days in the synod hall. Some bishops present here said that they couldn’t even imagine pulling together the myriad of thoughts, suggestions, ideas that have emerged from this international group. Quebec’s cardinal and his team worked nonstop for the past two days in pulling together much of the data of over 200 synodal interventions.”
Said Father Rosica, “The result was a masterful, thoughtful, comprehensive presentation that begins the next phase of the synod and the formulation of the propositions that are presented to the Pope next week. These propositions, among which is one that is favored by Benedict XVI, are subsequently used as the foundation for the post-synodal apostolic exhortation.”
His Eminence Marc Cardinal Ouellet
Archbishop of Québec
Primate of Canada
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His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet was born in La Motte, near Amos, Abitibi Region, Quebec, on June 8, 1944. He attended the Amos Teacher Training College (1959-1964) where he completed college and two years of philosophy and obtained a B.A. in Education from Laval University in 1964. At the end of his theological studies at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal (1964-1968), he obtained a Licence in Theology from the Université de Montréal. On May 25, 1968, in his home parish, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Amos and was appointed pastor of Saint-Sauveur Parish in Val d=Or, Abitibi. Sent to teach philosophy at the Major Seminary of Bogotá, Columbia (1970-1971), then headed by the Sulpicians, he decided to join the Company of Saint-Sulpice in 1972. He next pursued studies in Rome where, in 1974, he obtained a Licence in Philosophy at St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University. Invited to serve for two years as a Faculty member and professor at the Major Seminary of Manizales in Columbia, he was recalled to Canada in 1976 to assume the same roles at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal. In 1978, he returned to Rome for further studies and obtained a Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian University in 1983. He taught a year at the Major Seminary of Cali, and was then appointed Rector of the Major Seminary of Manizales from 1984 to 1989. The following year, he became Rector at the Grand Séminaire de Montréal, and then in 1994 at St. Joseph Seminary in Edmonton. From 1996 to 2002, he occupied the Chair of Dogmatic Theology of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, at the Lateran Pontifical University in Rome. On March 3, 2001, he was named titular bishop of Agropoli and appointed Secretary to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. Pope John Paul II ordained him a bishop on March 19th in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Cardinal Ouellet has served as consultor to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and to the Congregation for the Clergy. He is currently consultor to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses, and advisor to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He is also a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and of the Pontifical Council of Cardinals for the study of the organizational and economic affairs of the Holy See. Recently, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cardinal Ouellet as General Relator to the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. He was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Quebec on November 15, 2002 and took possession of his See on January 26, 2003. Pope John Paul II promoted him to the Sacred College of Cardinals during the Consistory of October 21-22, 2003. His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet is the twenty-fourth Bishop, the fourteenth Archbishop, and the seventh Cardinal of Quebec. |
Wow. What a steward of some formidable talents!
The bishops are talking in Latin, that in itself is a hopeful sign, even if the subject matter were mundane and trivial. But to reach lofty intellectual heights as well, gosh, Bishop Mackeralperson is not going to be pleased.
ROFL!! Thanks, I needed that :-)
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