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Catholic World News News Feature

Brazilian cardinal to head Congregation for Clergy? October 30, 2006

Cardinal Claudio Hummes of Sao Paulo, Brazil, may soon be named by Pope Benedict XVI as the new prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, according to noted Vatican journalist John Allen.

The Congregation for the Clergy is currently headed by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who at the age of 77 is 2 years beyond the usual retirement age. Pope Benedict recently met with the Colombian prelate in an unexpected private audience, reviving rumors that his resignation would soon be accepted.

Allen, the veteran Rome correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, cites another respected Vatican-watcher, Marco Tosatti of La Stampa, as the source of the prediction that Cardinal Hummes will take over the leadership of the Congregation for Clergy. The Vatican has not commented on the report.

If the report is accurate, the selection of Cardinal Hummes, a Franciscan who was friendly to exponents of liberation theology in Latin America, would suggest that Pope Benedict is determined to fill the Roman Curia with prelates who will represent a wide variety of views. In 1984, while he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote an Instruction highly critical of liberation theology.

According to a separate report circulating in Rome, Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos would relinquish his post at the Congregation for Clergy but remain president of the Ecclesia Dei commission, which is charged with relations with traditionalist Catholics. This second rumor-- also unconfirmed-- suggests that Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos will retain his spot at Ecclesia Dei at least until the appearance of a papal directive authorizing wider use of the traditional Latin Mass.