Word: pope
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...Pope has confirmed the Vatican's strictly traditional party line on questions of doctrine and moral theology. But his more progressive counterpart, the former Archbishop, has hardly disappeared. Officially, having stepped down from his Milan post in 2003 after reaching the prescribed retirement age of 75, Martini should be enjoying a quiet, scholarly retirement with his biblical studies in Jerusalem. Still, most Church insiders say the Jesuit Cardinal, who turned 80 on Saturday, remains the single most influential Catholic leader challenging Rome's rigid-as-ever stances on moral issues...
...issues dividing Catholics. Martini has long been a beacon for a generation of progressive bishops and cardinals, like Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, who has recently pushed to have a mass for gay parishioners. Martini and his followers, in fact, have long contrasted with the future German pope...
...Both born in 1927, Martini and Ratzinger were already acclaimed Catholic scholars when Pope John Paul II promoted them to two of the top spots in the Church hierarchy: Martini to Milan in 1979 as Archbishop of Europe's largest diocese, and Ratzinger to Rome in 1981 as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office. Over the years, the two soft-spoken Cardinals became seen as intellectual and institutional titans, practically alter egos, and the undeclared leaders of opposing theological camps battling for the soul of the Church. Like Ratzinger's backers, Martini fans once hoped their man might succeed...
...Church traditionalists, Martini remains a bete noire of liberal leadership. One conservative website described his recent remarks about an Italian euthanasia case as "another subversive blow." L'Espresso's veteran Vatican correspondent Sandro Magister, a supporter of the Pope's clear doctrinal lines, acknowledged Martini's continued weight. His dissent on moral issues, Magister wrote, "pits the highest leaders of the worldwide Church against each other with conflicting positions...
...Having now turned 80, Martini is no longer eligible to vote in future conclaves. As for the now-Pope Benedict, his 80th birthday arrives in April. For the occasion, one wonders whether the pontiff would prefer from Martini another lively intellectual debate, or perhaps a permanent return to his bible studies in Jerusalem...