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Eduardo Martínez Somalo, 78
Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church
Eduardo Martínez Somalo has been one of the closest aides of John Paul II during his ministry as Supreme Pontiff.
He was born March 31, 1927, in Baños de Rio Tobia, Spain. He studied in Rome at the Spanish College and at the Gregorian University, obtaining a licentiate in theology and in canon law.
Ordained a priest in March 1950, he carried out his pastoral ministry in his native diocese. He was then sent to Rome, once again, to attend courses at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and to prepare himself to serve as pontifical representative of the Holy See. After receiving a doctorate in canon law from the Lateran University in 1956, he entered the Vatican Secretariat of State.
The following year he was promoted to secretary of the nunciature and nominated professor at the Ecclesiastical Academy.
In April 1970, he was named counselor of the apostolic delegation to Great Britain. In October that same year he was recalled to the Vatican as assessor of the Secretariat of State and therefore direct collaborator of the then substitute of the Secretariat of State.
In November 1975, Pope Paul VI named him apostolic nuncio in Colombia. He received episcopal ordination that Dec. 13.
In May 1979, Pope John Paul II named him substitute of the Secretariat of State, a position which he held until he was made a cardinal in 1988.
Cardinal Martínez was president delegate to the 1st Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, in 1991.
He was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments from July 1988 to January 1992. He was prefect of the Congregation of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life from January 1992 to February 2004.
He was named camerlengo, or chamberlain, in April 1993.
Curial membership:
* Secretariat of State (second section)
* Divine Worship and the Sacraments, Sainthood Causes, Bishops, Evangelization of Peoples, Clergy, Catholic Education (congregations)
* Legislative Texts (council)
* Latin America, Institute for Works of Religion (commissions)
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Carlo Martini, 78
Retired archbishop of Milan, Italy
Carlo Maria Martini was born Feb. 15, 1927, in Turin, Italy. He entered the Society of Jesus in September 1944 and was ordained a priest July 13, 1952, at age 25.
In 1958, he received his doctorate in theology from the Gregorian University. After some years of teaching at the faculty of Chieri he returned to Rome and earned a doctorate in Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. Dean of the Faculty of Scripture at the Biblical Institute, he became rector in 1969 to 1978 when he was named chancellor of the Gregorian University.
He was the only Catholic member of the ecumenical committee that prepared the new Greek edition of the New Testament. He is the author of many books, whose topics include the Spiritual Exercises.
In 1978, Pope Paul VI invited him to preach the annual retreat in the Vatican. Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop of Milan in December 1979 and personally consecrated him on Jan. 6, 1980. He was elevated to cardinal in 1983.
He was president of the Council of the European Episcopal Conferences from 1986 until April 1993. He retired as Milan’s archbishop in July 2002.
Curial membership:
* Eastern Churches, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education (congregations)
* Culture (council)
* Cultural Heritage of the Church (commission)
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Renato Martino, 72
President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace
Renato Raffaele Martino was born Nov. 23, 1932, in Salerno, Italy. He was ordained a priest in June 1957 and holds a doctorate in canon law.
He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1962 and worked in the nunciatures in Nicaragua, the Philippines, Lebanon, Canada and Brazil.
Between 1970-75 he served in the Secretariat of State. In September 1980 he was appointed papal nuncio in Thailand and apostolic delegate in Singapore, Malaysia, Laos and Brunei, and was ordained with the title of archbishop on Dec. 14, 1980.
In 1986 he was appointed permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in New York. In 1991 he founded the Path to Peace Foundation to further the Holy See’s mission at the United Nations.
In October 2002 he was appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples (congregation)
* Cor Unum (council)
* Patrimony of the Holy See (office)
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Theodore McCarrick, 74
Archbishop of Washington, D.C.
Theodore Edgar McCarrick was born July 7, 1930, in New York. He was ordained May 31, 1958, for the Archdiocese of New York and holds a doctorate in sociology from the Catholic University of America, Washington.
He was dean of students and director of development at the Catholic University of America, and later served as president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico, Ponce, from 1965 to ’69. He was recalled to New York in 1969 and appointed associate secretary for education and personal secretary to Cardinal Terence Cooke.
In May 1977 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of New York, receiving episcopal ordination that June 29.
In November 1981 he was named the first bishop of the new Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey, and in May 1986 was promoted to archbishop of Newark. His appointment as archbishop of Washington was announced in November 2000.
He was elevated to cardinal in February 2001.
Curial membership:
* Justice and Peace, Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, Christian Unity (councils)
* Latin America (commission)
* Patrimony of the Holy See (office)
* Special Council for America of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Jorge Medina Estévez, 78
Retired prefect of Congregation for Divine Worship
Jorge Arturo Medina Estévez was born Dec. 23, 1926, in Santiago, Chile. Prior to entering the seminary he attended the law faculty at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He also obtained a baccalaureate in arts and in biology. He entered the major seminary of Santiago and was ordained a priest June 12, 1954.
In 1955 he received his doctorate in theology. Until 1965 he taught philosophy at the seminary and until 1994 theology at the faculty of the Catholic University of Chile, where he also served for several years as dean. From 1974 to 1985, he was pro-grand chancellor of the university.
For many years he was canon penitentiary of the metropolitan cathedral of Santiago, and also judge of the ecclesiastical tribunal of Santiago.
He served as a peritus at the Second Vatican Council. He was later a member of the International Theological Commission and the drafting commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
In December 1984 he was named auxiliary bishop of Rancagua, Chile, and received episcopal ordination in January 1985.
In 1986 he was named apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Rancagua and in November 1987 he became bishop there. In April 1993 he was appointed bishop of Valparaíso.
In 1992 the Pope nominated him secretary-general of the 4th General Conference of Latin American Bishops. In 1993 he preached the Holy Father’s Lenten retreat.
He is the author of many works: books, theological-pastoral booklets and articles on ecclesiological themes, spirituality and canon law.
In June 1996 the Pope appointed him pro-prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. That same day he stepped down as bishop of Valparaiso, and that Sept. 19 he was named an archbishop. He was elevated to cardinal in 1
998.
He became prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship in February 1998. He retired from that post in October 2002.
Curial membership:
* Clergy, Doctrine of the Faith, Bishops (congregations)
* Family (council)
* Latin America, Ecclesia Dei (commissions)
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Joachim Meisner, 71
Archbishop of Cologne, Germany
Joachim Meisner was born Dec. 25, 1933, in Breslau, Germany (present-day Wroclaw, Poland).
Having entered the seminary of Erfurt, he received a doctorate in theology. He was ordained a priest Dec. 22, 1962, and was made co-pastor of a parish. He was also the diocesan director of Caritas.
In March 1975 he was named auxiliary bishop to the apostolic administrator of Erfurt, East Germany. He was ordained a bishop on May 17, 1975.
As auxiliary bishop of Erfurt, he signed the first agreement between the Church and the state based on the Democratic German Republic’s Constitution of 1963.
In December 1976, the members of the bishops’ conference of Berlin elected him as their representative to the 4th Synod of Bishops, held at the Vatican in 1977.
In April 1980, Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of Berlin. He was elevated to cardinal in February 1983.
In December 1988 he was promoted to archbishop of Cologne. He was president delegate of the 2nd Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, in October 1999.
Curial membership:
* Divine Worship and the Sacraments, Bishops, Clergy (congregations)
* Legislative texts (council)
* Economic Affairs of the Holy See (office)
* Council of Cardinals for Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See
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Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, 72
Archbishop of Westminster, Great Britain
Cormac Murphy-O’Connor was born Aug. 24, 1932, in Reading, Great Britain. He was ordained for the Diocese of Portsmouth in October 1956 and holds licentiates in philosophy and theology from the Gregorian University, Rome.
He served as a curate in Portsmouth and Fareham, and was director of vocations and secretary to then Bishop Derek Worlock. He was later a parish priest for a year before being named rector of the Venerable English College, Rome. He held that post from 1971 to 1977.
In November 1977 he was appointed bishop of Arundel and Brighton, and received episcopal ordination that Dec. 21.
From 1982 to 2000 he was co-chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission and also served as chairman of several committees of the bishops’ conference of England and Wales.
His promotion to archbishop of Westminster was announced in February 2000. He was elevated to cardinal in February 2001.
Currently, he is president of the bishops’ conference of England and Wales and vice president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conference.
Curial membership:
* Divine Worship and the Sacraments (congregation)
* Family, Culture, Christian Unity (councils)
* Cultural Heritage (commission)
* Vox Clara (committee)
* Patrimony of the Holy See (office)
* Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See
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Wilfrid Fox Napier, 64
Archbishop of Durban, South Africa
Wilfrid Fox Napier was born March 8, 1941, in Swartberg, South Africa. He was ordained for the Franciscans on July 25, 1970, following philosophical and theological studies at the Catholic University of Louvain.
After learning Xhosa, he worked in the parish of Lusikisiki and did pastoral work in Tabankulu. In 1978 he was named apostolic administrator of Kokstad and appointed bishop of the same see on Nov. 29, 1980, receiving episcopal ordination the following Feb. 28.
During the turbulent changes that marked the South African political scene, he was deeply involved in mediation and negotiation work along with other national and provincial Church leaders. He served as president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference from 1987 to 1994.
In May 1992 he was promoted to archbishop of Durban and in August 1994 was named apostolic administrator “sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis” of Umzimkulu. Since November 1999, he is president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
He was elevated to cardinal in February 2001.
Curial membership:
* Evangelization of Peoples, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (congregations)
* Special Council for Africa of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops
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Attilio Nicora, 68
President of Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See
Attilio Nicora was born March 16, 1937, in Varese, Italy. He was ordained a priest June 27, 1964. He holds a degree in jurisprudence, a licentiate in theology and a doctorate in canon law.
He taught canon law and public ecclesiastical law in the major seminary of Milan, where he later became rector.
In May 1977 he was ordained auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milan, later becoming the pro-vicar general.
In 1992 he was transferred to Verona and continued his collaboration with the Holy See on juridical matters. In October 2002 he was named president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003.
Curial membership:
* Secretariat of State (second section)
* Bishops, Evangelization of Peoples (congregations)
* Legislative Texts (council)
* Vatican City State (commission)
