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Future of Catholic Church Focus of Meeting of Cardinals

Aired May 21, 2001 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The future of the Catholic Church is the focus of a meeting of cardinals at the Vatican today. The gathering may also provide some clues about choosing a successor to Pope John Paul II when the time comes.

CNN's Jim Bittermann reports from rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From around the world, the princes of the Catholic Church traveled to Rome to answer the pope's call. In the history of the papacy, there has never been such an invitation.

John Paul II asked all 183 members in the College of Cardinals, his senior churchmen, to meet for consultations.

(on camera): For months Vatican observers have been speculating over exactly what this extraordinary consistory, as it's called, will be all about. Is the Pope intending to set the church off in new directions or lay the groundwork for a successor or perhaps raise the issue of his health.

(voice-over): Ahead of his three days of meetings with the cardinals, John Paul traveled to a Roman suburb to celebrate Sunday mass and was giving little way about what he expects. His agenda is broad enough to address virtually any church questions and some cardinals hope to use the sessions to raise directly with the pope issues that normally get directed through the offices of high church bureaucrats.

CARDINAL WILLIAM KEELER, ARCHBISHOP OF BALTIMORE: It gives him an opportunity to hear voices from different parts of the world. It's not always a symphony.

BITTERMANN: Other cardinals expect the meetings will draw similar problems to the pope's attention.

CARDINAL WILFRID NAPIER, ARCHBISHOP OR DURBIN, SOUTH AFRICA: I think this would be an opportunity to find out, you know, just how much we have -- we do have in common and perhaps even more interesting, if there's -- if there's anything we have in common in trying to deal with these particular problems. BITTERMANN: There is little doubt, too, that one side effect from any gathering of cardinals normally scattered around the world is that they have a chance to size each other up, ahead of their most important task, voting, when the time comes, on John Paul's successor.

Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The gathering of cardinals is leading to speculation about who might one day succeed Pope John Paul II. Joining us from New York to discuss that is Father Thomas Reese, author of the book "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church."

Father, great to see you again this morning.

REV. THOMAS REESE, AUTHOR, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": Certainly.

PHILLIPS: Well, you and I have talked about this before with regard to the endurance of the pope. You have referred to him as sort of an Olympic athlete, but people do want to know, would he ever consider, do you think, stepping aside because of his health issues?

REESE: So far, his health has been good enough so that he can continue to govern as pope. But Pope John Paul II is clearly a holy man who wants what is best for the church. If he came to the conclusion that it was for the good of the church for him to step down, I think he would do it. He can legally do that. But as long as he can continue to serve the church, he will continue to be pope.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's talk about the cardinals who are meeting. Do you think they're all sort of sitting around in a circle sort of looking at each other, OK, who's it going to be?

REESE: Well, I think it's only human that in the back of their minds each time a cardinal gets up to speak, they're going to be asking, how would that man do as pope? This is inevitable. When they have conversations over coffee, when they have late-night dinners, this is the kind of thing that is bound to come up.

PHILLIPS: Who do you think are some of the top contenders?

REESE: Well, it's really too early to say. One of the reasons is that we don't know, of course, when there will be a vacancy in the papacy. And my feeling is that the cardinals are going to be looking from someone of 65 and say 72 years of age. So, late 60s, early 70s.

So, someone who would be a viable candidate right now, in 10 years would be too old and someone who is too young right now might be just the right age in a few years. So, I think it's much too early to really guess who would be -- or to play Jimmy the Greek here.

PHILLIPS: Well, you did mention Cardinal Sodano.

REESE: Well, Cardinal Sodano is the secretary of state, which is the second-highest ranking office in the papacy after John Paul II himself. So, he is a very influential person, a key player in the Vatican, and he would be someone people would look at very carefully.

PHILLIPS: And it's a pretty diverse group. We have many ethnicities in this mix. Do you think it's time for a change with that regard?

REESE: Well, this is -- this College of Cardinals is very universal and geographically spread. Forty percent of them, for example, are from the Third World. So, it could be that the next pope could be someone from the Third World. Certainly, during the century, we will have a pope elected from the Third World. We have a College of Cardinals that's multicultural and multiracial; a very colorful group.

PHILLIPS: Father Thomas Reese, and we will be following it. Thanks for being with us this morning.

REESE: Certainly.

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