Perceptive commentary: Magister, Royal

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Mar 07, 2013

As a service to our readers, once again we call attention to some of the most interesting commentary that has appeared on other sites regarding the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the prospects for the March conclave. For our efforts to correct some of the less astute commentary, see our separate “Popular Misconceptions” series, which will continue through the papal election.

• Sandro Magister of L’Espresso believes that the public fuss about the US cardinals’ media briefings has vaulted New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan into the first rank of papabili. Magister says that old hands of the Roman Curia, unhappy with the prospect of a Dolan candidacy, are promoting Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• Cardinal Roger Mahony has been visible during the past few weeks only because of his many public statements justifying his own handling of the sex-abuse scandal in Los Angeles. While the Vatican took pains to announce that the retired Cardinal Mahony has every right to attend a conclave, Robert Royal was struck by the sight of Cardinal Mahony having dinner alone in a Roman restaurant--“Rome being perhaps the hardest city in the world to eat dinner by yourself, especially when 115 of your supposedly closest associates are in town.”