Preacher for Lenten Retreat rated high among papabili

February 18, 2013

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, who is preaching this week’s Lenten Retreat at the Vatican, is among the leading candidates to replace Pope Benedict XVI. His performance during the week-long spiritual exercises could make a lasting impression among the prelates of the Roman Curia who will be voting in the papal conclave next month, observes John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter.

Cardinal Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is a Biblical scholar with a wide range of intellectual interests and a knack for making his points in unusual and thought-provoking ways. Allen, who has been open in his admiration for Cardinal Ravasi, makes the Italian prelate his latest subject in a series of short profiles of the papabili.

 

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Further information:

• A spotlight on 'the most interesting man in the church' (National Catholic Reporter)