Cardinal Connell: Cardinal Desmond Connell will be the first Irishman to take part in a papal election for 42 years, when the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul takes place in coming weeks.
Dates for the conclave, which must begin no sooner than April 17th (15 days after the death of Pope John Paul) and no later than April 22nd (20 days after his death), are expected to be announced at the Vatican tomorrow.
In 1963 Cardinal Michael Browne attended the conclave which elected Pope John XXIII.Cardinal Browne was a member of the Dominican congregation and lived most of his life in Rome where he also worked at the Vatican.
But Cardinal Connell likes to point out that he will not be the only Irishman taking part in the forthcoming conclave. He has repeated that "Cardinal Keith O'Brien of Scotland was born in Antrim."
At the Pro-Cathedral in Dublin yesterday he would not be drawn on what we might expect from the conclave.
Asked what qualities he would like to see in the next Pope, he also declined to be drawn.
He did, however, comment with humour on reports by American journalist John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the US National Catholic Reporter magazine, that he [ Cardinal Connell] was " a member of Cardinal Ratzinger's border patrol".
Cardinal Ratzinger (78), prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which Cardinal Connell is also a member, has been tipped as one of the many cardinals who may be elected Pope.
He and Cardinal Connell are known to be close theologically, philosophically, and indeed personally.
Yesterday Cardinal Connell said he had never heard of such a patrol or whether it existed. "If so I haven't been included," he said. He also said that in the course of five trips to Rome since Christmas no one had approached him for support at the conclave.
However, he did remark that his vote "was as good as anyone else's, the same as any other". He asked for people's prayers in exercising it, and went on to talk of "the extraordinary privilege" it was for him to have such a vote. It was "such an extraordinary privilege" particularly as he was appointed a bishop at 62 (in 1988, when he became Archbishop of Dublin).
Cardinal Connell flies out to Rome tomorrow.
