The erudite President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, would, under any circumstances, be on a short list from which the College of Cardinals will select the next Pope. But this week at the invitation of Pope Benedict, the Biblical scholar will be preaching the week-long Lenten spiritual exercises for the Holy Father and the Roman Curia. Whether it was Pope Benedict's plan to highlight the scholarly churchman weeks before the conclave that will elect his successor, or the work of the Holy Spirit, we may never know. But the Vatican's annual retreat will provide ample opportunity for some of the Church's most influential Cardinals to observe close-up the heart and mind of Cardinal Ravasi. His spiritual reflections will also be disseminated world-wide, including here at Sunlit Uplands..
John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter has written the following profile of this leading candidate for the Papacy.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi A spotlight on 'the most interesting man in the church'
From The National Catholic ReporterBy John Allen
Rome - Openly campaigning for the papacy is not only taboo, it's usually fatal. Most cardinals are of the belief that if someone actually wants the job, they have no idea what it's about.
On the other hand, sometimes circumstances align to thrust someone into the spotlight, creating an opportunity to either boost or diminish his electoral prospects, even if that's not officially the purpose of what's going on.
Today one such papabile steps onto the stage in Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, a 70-year-old biblical scholar, essayist and intellectual omnivore.
From Sunday evening to Saturday morning, Ravasi will preach the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia, an annual retreat during which the Vatican more or less goes into lockdown while its personnel gather in the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Apostolic Palace.
