"'It's a happy day,' pope tells Keeler at Vatican ceremony attended by 8,000." The Baltimore Sun, 27 November 1994.

'It's a happy day,' pope tells Keeler at Vatican ceremony attended by 8,000
BALTIMORE'S ARCHBISHOP BECOMES A CARDINAL

By Frank P. L. Somerville
Sun Staff

November 27, 1994

ROME -- In a two-hour Vatican ceremony that blended solemnity and joy, pomp and the common touch, Pope John Paul II raised Baltimore Archbishop William Henry Keeler to the rank of cardinal yesterday, making him a prince of the Roman Catholic Church.

One of 30 new cardinals, he is the third in the 205-year history of the Baltimore Archdiocese.

The pope presented Cardinal Keeler and 28 others with the distinctive red hats -- the watered-silk, square birettas -- that mark them as members of the College of Cardinals, in the presence of 8,000 cheering, flag-waving admirers.

Unable to receive the hat in person because of ill health was French theologian Yves Congar, 90, who is in a Paris hospital. He was a key architect of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The ceremony, mostly in Latin, included choral music, a prayer service and an address by the pope. The biretta's red color, the pope told each man, is a reminder that as a cardinal he must be prepared to shed his blood if necessary "for the increase of the Christian faith."

Pope John Paul spoke with feeling of those who are suffering in many parts of the world.

"My thoughts naturally turn at this moment with particular intensity to every Christian community which is being severely tested," he said, and he singled out the faithful of Lebanon, Eastern Europe, Vietnam and Cuba.

"I am thinking in particular," the pope said, "of the Christians of Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina, where, unfortunately, the devastating roar of weapons has not yet ceased, and so much innocent blood continues to be shed, without any prospect for peace in sight."

At a reception later at the Pontifical North American College, where Cardinal Keeler was once a student, the Baltimore archbishop recalled that the pope "had a special word for me, something like, 'It's a happy day -- congratulations.' "

"I can't say I was nervous as the consistory began. I was very much at peace," he said.

Talking about the cardinals from other parts of the world, Cardinal Keeler said, "In Rome, you have the history of the early Christian martyrs. Today, you had some living martyrs."

The new cardinal said he was familiar with about half of the other cardinals from his previous visits to the Vatican. When he donned his vestments with them yesterday morning, he said, "it was like a reunion."

The other new U.S. cardinal is Adam J. Maida, the archbishop of Detroit, who studied for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore.

Enthusiastic cheers and applause came from blocks of seats assigned to the Baltimore and Detroit contingents when their archbishops, resplendent in new robes of brilliant red, first appeared in a procession down the center aisle of the hall.

The applause resumed when the pope read out their names in Latin, and again when they left their seats to walk up the 10 marble steps to the stage and approach the pope for conferring of the honor.

A papal bull, a document officially creating the cardinal, was handed to each.

More than 400 people from the Baltimore and Harrisburg areas had accompanied Cardinal Keeler to Rome on a chartered flight that arrived Wednesday morning.

Also watching the proceedings from the audience yesterday were Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and his wife, Dr. Patricia Schmoke.

Troubled areas

Louder and more prolonged applause greeted each mention of the names of new cardinals from troubled areas of the world -- Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana; Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Sarajevo; Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam; and Mikel Koliqi, a frail priest of the archdiocese of Scutari, Albania, who spent 44 of his 92 years imprisoned by the Communists.

Cardinal Koliqi was unable to stand or walk without assistance. Another physically handicapped prelate was Cardinal Alois Grillmeier, 84, a German Jesuit theologian who sat in his wheelchair and was carried to the stage.

Also applauded was Cardinal Miloslav Vlk of Prague in the Czech Republic, who visited Baltimore as a guest of its Czechoslovakian community in the fall of 1992.

But the loudest bursts of applause and the longest cheers came from the 1,500 seated Scottish supporters of Cardinal Thomas Joseph Winning of Glasgow.

And their party continued under the bright sun and blue sky outside the auditorium after the service as they sang "Amazing Grace" to the accompaniment of kilted bagpipers, whose martial sounds echoed through St. Peter's thronged square.

They waved blue-and-white flags bearing the cross of St. Andrew and over their heads was a big green and yellow banner proclaiming: "Cardinal Winning's Miles Better."

An international college

The ceremony took place in the vast auditorium known as Aula Paola Sesto, or Paul VI Hall, completed in 1971. A roar of applause greeted Pope John Paul's entrance from the left side of the marble stage.

Wearing robes and a miter of white and gold and accompanied by acolytes carrying a cross and lighted candles, he walked slowly with a pronounced limp, leaning heavily on his bishop's staff.

He was helped up the two steps to his throne and remained seated during most of the ceremony. Although the pope's face appeared strained much of the time, he had a warm smile for each of the two new cardinals from the United States.

Early in the ceremony, called a consistory, the pope's familiar Polish-accented voice was weaker than it has been at such public events in years past, but he seemed to take strength from the festive crowd's applause for his new cardinals.

As he was leaving the stage at the end of the ceremony, the pope, with a smile and raised hands, turned to acknowledge the enthusiasm of many in the audience, who were still waving flags and scarves as they cheered.

In his address, delivered in Latin, Pope John Paul emphasized the increasingly international makeup of the College of Cardinals, which he said "expresses in a very significant way the unity and universality of the People of God."

In the group of new cardinals, he said, "no fewer than 24 nations of every region of the world are represented."

The pope was upbeat about the new leadership of the church, referring to its "collegial dimension" that he said is today "enjoying a specially happy period of rediscovery of its authenticity."

He said the College of Cardinals is "developing its ministry more constantly and efficiently, thanks to the greater possibilities of communicating and coming together."

In what many in the audience took to be an indirect reference to the 74-year-old pontiff's health problems, he said:

"The specific task of the cardinals gathered in conclave is precisely the election of the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of Peter, ensuring the continuity of the apostolic succession in this See, a continuity essential for the church and for her journey through the centuries in faithful service of the Gospel."

Oath of fidelity

Each of the new cardinals, speaking together in Latin, recited an oath of fidelity and obedience to the pope, which included the promise "never to reveal to anyone whatever has been confided in me to keep secret and the

revelation of which could cause damage or dishonor to the Holy Church."

On behalf of all of them, the senior new member of the College of Cardinals, His Beatitude Nasrallah-Pierre Sfeir, Patriarch of Antioch for Maronites in Lebanon, expressed in French thanks to the pope for the honor bestowed on them.

As each of the new cardinals advanced to the pope's throne to be given the red biretta, he at first bowed, then knelt, then stood.

Some kissed the pope's ring, and some shook his hand. A few words were spoken privately.

All exchanged the kiss of peace with the pope, an embrace in which the cardinals inclined their heads toward each side of his face.

The pope said to each in Latin, "May the peace of the Lord be always with you," to which the new cardinal responded, "And also with you."

One by one, the new cardinals then joined nearly 100 other members of the College of Cardinals already assembled on the stage to the pope's left.

Informal conviviality, with many greetings and embraces among the churchmen, became the tone of the growing assembly. Camera flashes filled the packed auditorium, where the attire varied from white tie and tails to street dress, from nuns' habits to the purple garb of bishops.

Three women took part in the service, reading three of the six prayers in different languages.

Last night, Cardinal Keeler was the guest of honor at a public reception in the Room of Constantine in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, a large room decorated by the great Renaissance artist Raphael.

Today, the Baltimore archbishop and the other new cardinals will receive their rings from the pope at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, which can hold as many as 15,000.

CARDINAL KEELER'S OATH

Here is the English translation of the response recited in Latin by Cardinal Keeler and the other 28 new cardinals to the pope.

I, William Keeler, cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, promise and swear to remain, from this moment and for as long as I live, faithful to Christ and to his Gospel, constantly obedient to the Holy Apostolic Roman Church, to the Blessed Peter in the person of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II and of his successors canonically elected; to preserve always in word and deed communion with the Catholic Church; never to reveal to anyone whatever has been confided in me to keep secret and the revelation of which could cause damage or dishonor to the Holy Church; to carry out with great diligence and fidelity to tasks to which I am called in my service to the Church, according to the norms of law. So help me Almighty God.

NOTABLE CARDINALS

A look at some of the cardinals elevated yesterday:

* Adam J. Maida, 64, was ordained in 1956 and became bishop of Green Bay, Wis., in 1984. He was named archbishop in Detroit in 1990. Cardinal Maida, a lawyer with canon and civil law degrees, is a conservative who shares Pope John Paul II's desire for greater interfaith dialogue and for social action by the clergy. He has been active in trying to rejuvenate poverty-ridden sections of downtown Detroit. He has also led a drive to build a library-museum in the pope's name in Washington.

* Mikel Koliqi, 92, is a frail parish priest from Scutari, Albania. He was sentenced to 44 years in prison during the crackdown on religion under Communist dictator Enver Hoxha. Six years were commuted because of old age, and he regained his freedom in 1986.

* Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, 58, has been archbishop of Havana since 1981. He was detained in a work camp for nearly a year in 1966. He is president of the Cuban Conference of Bishops, which issued sharp criticism of the Castro government last year and also criticized the U.S. embargo as contributing to difficulties of the Cuban people.

* Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, 75, is archbishop of Hanoi, Vietnam. He was first named a bishop in 1963 and for the next 26 years was put under house arrest, unable to visit his diocese.

* Vinko Puljic, 49, is the youngest member of the College of Cardinals. He has been archbishop of Sarajevo since November 1990 and has earned respect among all religious groups for fairness and courage. He has visited war-ravaged areas pleading for peace. He had hoped to welcome the pope Sept. 8, but now expects a papal visit next summer.

* Kazimierz Swiatek, 80, is the first cardinal from Belarus, a former Soviet republic. Arrested twice by the KGB in the 1940s, he spent 10 years in Soviet prison camps. Since Belarus' independence, he has worked to rebuild churches and clergy.

* Miloslav Vlk, 62, is the archbishop of Prague, Czech Republic, and president of the European council of bishops. Under the Communists, he was harassed by secret police after the Prague Spring. He was forced to live underground and worked as a window cleaner. He was appointed to the Prague post in March 1991.