Three cardinals in a room
-
- September
- 20
Three of the 15 living American cardinals will be at St. Joseph’s Seminary tonight for the seminary’s annual fundraising dinner.
Cardinal Egan, of course, is supposed to be there. Cardinal Avery Dulles, the Fordham theologian, is scheduled to show. And the honoree will be a native New Yorker, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington, D.C.
I wonder what the three will talk about if they get a moment alone together. What McCarrick, 77, is doing in retirement? What Egan may do in retirement? How busy Dulles (that’s him) remains, despite being 89 and ailing?
Of the 15 American cardinals, 11 are under 80 and eligible to vote for the next pope. Dulles and three others are too old to get into a conclave.
Egan, Dulles and McCarrick were all made cardinals together by Pope John Paul II on Feb. 21, 2001. I was fortunate to be at the consistory when JPII gave the red hat to 44 new cardinals. St. Peter’s Square was a sea of red.
I wish I could be at Dunwoodie tonight, but I have to go to “open schools night” at my sons’ school.
I do hope to visit the seminary soon, though, to chat with its new rector, Bishop Gerald Walsh.
This entry was posted
on Thursday, September 20th, 2007 at 9:52 am by Gary Stern.
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The world of religion, we don't have to tell you, is vast. The purpose of this blog is for Stern to note, flag and comment on some of the more interesting religious developments on the scene – weighty and quirky, somber and laughable, far away and just down the road. He won't interpret Scripture, take sides in conflicts or judge anyone. But he will take advantage of the journalist's license to observe.
