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His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze (born November 1, 1932) is a leading cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and was Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Roman Curia under Pope John Paul II. Arinze was one of the principal advisors to John Paul, and is widely considered to be a possible successor to the papacy, which would make him the first African pope in more than 1500 years.
Early life
Francis Arinze was born in Eziowelle, Nigeria. He was baptised at the age of 9 by the first Nigerian to be canonised, Michael Tansi. At the age of 15, he entered All Hallowa Seminary Ognissanti of Nuewi from which he graduated in 1950. He stayed until 1953 to teach. Arinze entered the Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu where he studied philosophy. In 1955, he went to Rome to study theology at the Pontifical Urban University. On November 23, 1958, at the chapel of the university, Arinze was formally ordained into the priesthood.
As priest
From 1961 to 1962, Arinze was professor of liturgy, logic and basic philosophy at Bigard Memorial Seminary. From there, he was appointed regional secretary for Catholic education for the eastern part of Nigeria. Eventually, Arinze was transferred to London, where he attended the Institute of Pedagogy and graduated in 1964. On July 6, 1965, Arinze was appointed to the titular church of Fissiana in Nigeria and named coadjutor to the Archbishop of Onitsha.
As archbishop
It was as coadjutor that Father Arinze proved himself a highly intelligent and able leader. After great consideration of his successes throughout his early pastoral career, Arinze was consecrated Bishop on 29 August 1965. Only two years later, he was asked to take over the pastoral government of the archdiocese and on 26 June 1967 was named Archbishop.
In 1979, Archbishop Arinze continued to rise in the ranks of the hierarchy. His peers elected him President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria where he served until 1984.
As cardinal
In 1985, Pope John Paul II requested his services to become President of the Secretariat for Non-Christians. Today the organization is called the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Before assuming the position, Pope John Paul created him cardinal in a 25 May consistory. Cardinal Arinze served as president of the council until 1 October 2002.
World dignitary
His service on the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue thrust Cardinal Arinze to a position of increased visibility to the world public. On 8 May 1994, he presided at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter's Basilica as President of the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops. On 24 October 1999 he received a gold medallion from the International Council of Christians and Jews for his outstanding achievements in inter-faith relations. He traveled extensively and became a popular speaker in the United States, where he cultivated many devotees of his pastoral leadership.
Cardinal Arinze became even more visible to the world public as a member of the Committee of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. In that capacity, he worked closely with individual bishops and priests throughout the world in preparation for the rare celebration of the Church. Pope John Paul II was greatly impressed with the leadership of Cardinal Arinze and on 1 October 2002, he became Prefect of the Congregation of Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
He is considered a conservative on issues related to gay rights, abortion, contraception, and the family.
Quotations
- In many parts of the world, the family is under siege. It is opposed by an anti-life mentality as is seen in contraception, abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. It is scorned and banalized by pornography, desecrated by fornication and adultery, mocked by homosexuality, sabotaged by irregular unions and cut in two by divorce.
External links
- Texts of dicours
- White Smoke for a Black Pope?
- catholic-hierarchy.org
- Cardinal Arinze's pro-life, pro-family comments anger Georgetown faculty members, spark protest
- Profile: Cardinal Francis Arinze (The Guardian, October 3, 2003)