Ravasi's profiled as a figure to watch: "Stay thirsty, my friends!"
"Openly campaigning for the papacy? Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi?"
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, writes John Allen inNCR
Online.
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.
Ravasi
is the son of an anti-fascist tax official who was lost to the young
Ravasi for 18 months after deserting the army during World War II. In
a typically reflective flourish, Ravasi later said his lifelong
search for permanence is probably related to that early sense of
loss.
While
working on his doctorate at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Ravasi
spent time in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Jordan on archeological digs,
and later served as prefect of the prestigious Ambrosian Library in
Milan.
Among
those who know Ravasi, his penchant for literary allusion is
legendary; rarely can he talk for more than five minutes without
citing wildly diverse sources such as St. Augustine, Isaac Newton,
Vladimir Nabakov and the Russian Orthodox liturgy.
Despite
his prodigious learning, Ravasi has a strong popular touch. On Friday
night in Rome, he delivered some reflections on Albert Camus at the
Jesuit-run Church of Gesù, which struggled to contain an overflow
crowd.
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