Cardinal Georges Cottier, former theologian of the papal household, has died aged 93.
Sending his condolences to the Swiss cardinal’s sister, Pope Francis said he would be remembered particularly for “his strong faith, paternal kindness and intense cultural and ecclesial activity, especially in the service of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI as theologian of the papal household”.
Cardinal Cottier, a Dominican, had served as a theological expert at the Second Vatican Council, as secretary of the International Theological Commission and was theologian of the papal household from 1989 to 2005, retiring at the age of 83.
Before retiring he told Catholic News Service that the papal theologian’s main task was to vet the many thousands of words prepared by Vatican aides for the pope to speak or publish, and checking for statements of dubious theology and otherwise hazardous phrases that could come back to haunt the pope. Part of the task, the cardinal said, was to be careful not to make the pope say too much about some topics. “By this, I mean that when we have a theological issue that is still open to discussion and study, it’s not a good thing that the pope pronounce on it too early. Because when the pope speaks with authority, it means the discussion is closed,” he said.
In an interview last year the cardinal said the Catholic Church must develop better ways to accompany people and not simply condemn those who fail. “In rigorism, there is an innate brutality that is contrary to the delicacy with which God guides each person,” the cardinal told La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit journal.
“Some people have been scandalised by the Church because of a negative judgment issued in an impersonal and soulless way,” Cardinal Cottier said. “They have felt driven away, rejected in a serious manner.”
While the Church’s ministers must uphold Church teaching, he said, “this must be presented and explained in a language that clearly transmits the maternal concern of the Church”.
Speaking about Vatican II’s reforms in 2013, the cardinal said: “The liturgical reform went badly, I would say. The document is beautiful, but the bishops didn’t handle it well, at least not in Switzerland and France. Every pastor did what he liked.”
Archbishop asks voters to heed Ten Commandments
A Philippine archbishop is urging Catholics to heed the Ten Commandments before they head to the polls in May to vote for offices ranging from president to local village councillors.
Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the Philippine bishops’ conference, said in a pastoral letter to the faithful that if they need help “assessing the worthiness” of candidates, they should “use the age-old standard set by our Judeo-Christian tradition – the Ten Commandments.”
Archbishop Villegas noted long-running issues such as corruption and the persistence of political dynasties.
“How does the candidate show filial piety to elders? How does the candidate safeguard family life, the protection of children and the elderly and frail family members?” he asked, saying that a candidate who failed at the commandment on honouring one’s parents could “harm the basic unit of society – the family.”
Under this commandment, the archbishop also warned against voting for candidates whose families had held the same positions before them, since this would “perpetrate the family’s hold on public office”.
Karadzic jailing ‘not a solution’
Church leaders in Bosnia-Herzegovina have said a 40-year sentence against former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, convicted of genocide, will not secure peace.
“The imprisoning of one man won’t solve our problems,” said Mgr Ivo Tomasevic, secretary-general and spokesman for the bishops’ conference.
“The whole project he stood for – a war for territory involving ethnic cleansing – needs to be condemned and dismantled at its deepest sources.”
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