Papabili: Martini

This article explores a book by Cardinal Martini that has been translated into Hebrew and it also looks at his relations with Jews and his role in fostering relations. The following excerpt is a look at Martini's role in the last Conclave.

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For many years, Martini was at the top of the "papabili" - potential pope - list. At the last papal conclave, a little more than a month ago, Martini did not consider himself a likely candidate on account of his age (78) and poor health. But opponents of Cardinal Ratzinger and those on the lookout for a more "open-minded" pope rallied around him and hailed him as their leader. Martini favors delegating more power to Catholic communities around the world rather than concentrating it all in Rome. He would like to see bishops involved in decision-making in the Church and the pope consulting with them. He believes the time has come to reexamine the role of women in the Church and the dwindling number of men joining the priesthood. In the end, however, Martini supported Ratzinger and gave him his blessing.
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Read the complete article This city is cardinal to him from Haaretz - Israeli News.

In the last Conclave, Martini was supposed to be completely out of the running due to his health and general loss of influence due to his retirement. Yet according to reports, he was the runner-up to Cardinal Ratzinger. What role will he have to play next time? The conventional wisdom last time was that he would be a player in selecting who would represent the 'progressives'. By the next Conclave, I would suspect that's all he'll be able to do at his age.