Cardinal Scola seen as leading choice for Milan post

June 03, 2011

Cardinal Angelo Scola of Venice is the leading candidate to be named the new Archbishop of Milan, according to Vatican-watcher Andrea Tornielli of La Stampa--who has established an enviable record for predicting important Vatican policy announcements. Cardinal Scola’s name is one of three on the terna, or list of candidates, that will be discussed next week by the Congregation for Bishops, Tornielli reports. The other two prelates on the list, he reports, are Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Rimini and Msgr. Aldo Giordano, who is currently serving as permanent observer for the Holy See at the Council of Europe.

Two prelates missing from the list, Tornielli writes, are Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; and Archbishop Pietro Parolin, the veteran Vatican diplomat now serving as apostolic nuncio in Venezuela. Both had been mentioned as strong possibilities for the Milan appointment.

Tornielli's report appears just few days after another Italian newspaper, La Repubblica, said that Cardinal Scola had indicated that he would prefer to remain in Venice.

The Congregation for Bishops will meet on June 9, and the appointment to Milan is expected to be high on the agenda. The incumbent Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, is now 77 years old, and the formal announcement of his retirement is expected this month.

The appointment to Milan, the largest archdiocese in Europe, has been the subject of intense speculation in Italy. As Tornielli notes, Pope Benedict is not limited to the names on the terna, nor is he bound by the recommendation of the Congregation for Bishops; he will make his own choice for the position.

 

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Further information:

• Nella terna finale c’è Scola ma non (La Stampa)
• Cardinal Scola declining appointment to Milan? (CWN, 5/30)