The future Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa does not want to be the next Pope. Since his appointment as cardinal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem has been considered a possible successor to Francis. But he likes it when people call him “papabile,” the 58-year-old told Catholic News Agency (KNA) on Thursday. His reasoning is an Italian proverb: “If you enter a conclave as pope, you leave it as a cardinal.” That’s what he wants – but the papal office “of course not”. “You would have to be crazy to want to do a job like this,” said the Italian, who has worked in the Holy Land for 34 years.
On Saturday (September 30) Pizzaballa will be officially admitted to the College of Cardinals. From this moment on, he will be able to participate in a possible conclave to elect the Pope. Pizzaballa will be the first cardinal to reside in Jerusalem. He also sees his new title as a responsibility for a voice to and from Jerusalem.
The future Cardinal Bustillo does not want to be paralyzed by the ecclesiastical crisis
However, the future Cardinal François Bustillo (54) does not want to be paralyzed by the crisis in the Church. Since its beginning, it has survived all crises, from persecution in the Roman Empire to May 1968 and the crisis of modernity, said the bishop of Ajaccio, in Corsica, in an interview with the newspaper “La Croix” (online Thursday) . Christians must deal creatively and courageously with the “still great human and spiritual potential.” Spanish-born Bustillo will also be named a cardinal by Pope Francis in Rome on Saturday.
The religious see an opportunity in a society that has distanced itself from religion and “lost its inner GPS”. People will not be won over through new communication or seduction tactics, but through answers to existential questions about death, the afterlife and love. “Today, to find love and inner peace, our contemporaries go to the Amazon, to meet shamans, or to Tibet… But who knows the Christian tradition?”, said the future cardinal.
Bustillo cites baptisms, weddings or funerals as examples of encounters. They are often visited by people who are not Catholic, but who chose to be there out of friendship for their loved ones. In these moments you have to be very good: “It would be irresponsible to have 400 people in front of you and make a reticent, tasteless or saccharine speech”. It is important to convey the central messages for life, clearly and without seduction. Perhaps 5 of the 400 people asked themselves essential questions for their lives. “Is it written somewhere that we should be powerful?” Bustillo continues to ask and responds: “Nowhere.” But the Church has a strong and important legacy for the world. She must bring this legacy, little known today, “without complexes and without arrogance”. (tmg/KNA)