http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2005/04/19/italians_speculate_on_their_local_favorites
http://tinyurl.com/aewdr Italians speculate on their local favorites Compromise candidate eyed in one scenario By Stephen Heuser, Globe Staff | April 19, 2005 ROME -- As Catholics around the world debate whether the next pope should come from Latin America, Europe, or perhaps Africa, people here in Italy are asking a different question: After 27 years, isn't it time for another Italian? For generations, the nationality of the pope was never in question: Whoever emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's as the new pontiff would be a cardinal born and raised in Italy. That changed with the long reign of the Polish pope, John Paul II. Today, although Italy still has more cardinals considered eligible for the papacy than any other country, it no longer holds anywhere near a majority of electors, and Vatican watchers believe that cardinals from at least 10 countries on five continents are seriously in the running. Here, however, both public opinion and analysts tend to focus on the Italian contenders, partly because they're better-known figures in Italy, and partly for reasons of good old-fashioned local pride. ''A Roman would be a pleasure," said Paolo Russi, 67, wearing dark sunglasses against yesterday's bright, hazy sky. ''Just like the old days when the pope had to be Roman." It's anything but a lock. The most powerful cardinal sitting in the Sistine Chapel, most observers agree, is Joseph Ratzinger, the tough-minded German theologian who has enforced Catholic doctrine for two decades and was widely seen as John Paul II's right-hand man. The spiritual leader of the more liberal cardinals is Carlo Maria Martini, the archbishop emeritus of Milan, who has indicated an openness to a church that changes with the times. One scenario posed yesterday by Corriere della Sera, a leading Italian newspaper, predicted that if neither Ratzinger nor Martini wins enough votes in the early rounds of voting to be named pope, both will step back to act as powerbrokers within the conclave, and the college would then turn to a middle-ground Italian. The top three Italian candidates, in that case, would be Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan; Camillo Ruini, the vicar of Rome; and Angelo Scola, the patriarch of Venice -- the same job Albino Luciani held before he was elected Pope John Paul I in 1978. ''If I had to bet a coffee, I'd bet it on Ruini," said Luca Diotallevi, a professor at Roma Tre University who studies the contemporary church. As head of the Italian bishops conference, Ruini had helped John Paul II smooth out one of the thorniest administrative issues in the church, the power relationship between local bishops and the pope. ''He's something of a compromise between Ratzinger and Martini." More broadly, the tension between an Italian pope and a ''foreigner" reflects the larger question of whether the Vatican is at heart an Italian institution or a global one. The center of gravity of the Roman Catholic Church has undeniably shifted away from Italy, which -- though still overwhelmingly Catholic -- has an increasingly secular culture where people go to church less frequently than in many Catholic countries in the developing world. Overall, only about one-quarter of the world's Catholics now live in Europe. The Vatican itself, however, is unquestionably Italian in both its culture and language, conducting most business and issuing most of its statements in Italian. Conventional wisdom suggests that an Italian pope would have a far defter hand at managing the Roman Curia, the byzantine system of offices, congresses, and academies that serves as the nerve center of worldwide Catholicism. ADVERTISEMENT Though the Curia's departmental chiefs are often cardinals from overseas who speak at least two or three languages, the rank-and-file employees -- and even many senior officials -- speak only Italian and were raised in the traditions of the Italian church. Pope John Paul II was seen as a hands-off manager more comfortable addressing a crowd than wrestling with the Vatican's internal culture, with the result that the bureaucracy in Rome has gained power and leverage over local bishops. ''If we had a South American or African pope," said Diotallevi, ''the main risk is a weak pope managed by the Vatican bureaucracy. I think that the bishops and the priests of the Third World churches could understand very well that their autonomy is more guaranteed by an Italian pope than by a South American or African pope managed by Opus Dei or the Vatican bureaucracy . . . It's a problem of balance of powers within the Catholic Church." Though the pope is the spiritual leader of the worldwide church, the roots of the office are deeply Italian. Technically, the pope's pastoral job is bishop of Rome, and in the church's first few centuries he was simply picked by people and clergy of Rome. One legacy of John Paul II's long tenure may be the simple fact that origin no longer matters much. He immediately emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's speaking Italian, and he ministered intensely to Rome itself, visiting more than 300 of its 333 parishes and establishing a far deeper personal rapport with Italian Catholics than his more cerebral and removed predecessor, Paul VI, born Giovanni Battista Montini. As a result, feelings among Italians are mixed, with many welcoming the idea of yet another non-Italian calling the shots in the heart of Rome. ''An Italian pope would be OK. For me it is not important for me if he is Italian or foreign. What is important is that he brings the church forward in communion with other religions, continents, and governments," Paola Berria, 29, of Rome, said yesterday. At a century-old locksmith shop near St. Peter's, owner Maria Succo, 81, said, ''An Italian is better for Italian pride, but to embrace the international world, someone foreign would be better -- in the way that the Polish pope embraced the Polish people and the whole world." © Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Plan great trips with Yahoo! Travel: Now over 17,000 guides! http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Would you Help a Child in need? It is easier than you think. 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