(ANSA) – ROME, MAY 5 – Papabile (pope tip) Peter Erdo of Hungary has been touted as the heir to Saint John Paul II, while others have named him the ‘anti-Francis’ candidate.
And not because of his marked distance from Francis’s more progressive positions, but because of his firm position in that group of papabili decidedly more traditionalist and conservative than the last pontiff.
Peter Erdo was born in Budapest in 1952 to a family of Catholic intellectuals, the firstborn of six children. At just four years old, he experienced the invasion of Hungary by the Red Army that burned his house; he was ordained a priest in 1975 and a year later obtained a doctorate in theology, of which he later became a professor in Esztergom and at the Pontifical Gregorian University. His academic career led him to also become a professor of canon law, rector of the Péter Pázmány Catholic University and dean of the postgraduate institute of canon law.
But his real rise in the ranks of the church began in 1999, when John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Puppi and auxiliary of the diocese of Székesfehérvár: in 2003 he made him a cardinal. The Hungarian cardinal – being one of the five cardinal electors appointed by the Polish pope in the next conclave (a small minority compared to the majority of Bergoglians) – is considered an ace up the sleeve by the more conservative sectors of the church.
For ten years he was the president of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference and for a similar period the number one of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences: a solid base in terms of potential votes. He also boasts a powerful scientific literature activity (about 250 essays and twenty-five volumes in the field of canon law and medieval history of canon law alone) and a firm position on doctrine but, at the same time, always inclined to dialogue.
Erdo is very attentive to the dynamics of Europe and maintains that the continent urgently needs to rediscover its Christian roots. His most traditionalist positions emerge in the 2015 synod when he speaks out against access to the Eucharist for divorced and remarried people. Civil unions between homosexuals – he clarifies – cannot in any way be assimilated to the family.
On the subject of contraception he is considered close to the ‘pro-life’, and even on refugees he has a different approach from the totally open-minded one of Francis.
The Hungarian cardinal participates both in the conclave that elects Benedict XVI and in the one that nominates Francis, with whom he maintains fruitful relations – despite their differences – throughout his pontificate. Defined as a moderate and tactful man, compared to many neophytes, he also knows well the logic of the assembly of cardinals who elect the Pope. (ANSA).
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And not because of his marked distance from Francis’s more progressive positions, but because of his firm position in that group of papabili decidedly more traditionalist and conservative than the last pontiff.
Peter Erdo was born in Budapest in 1952 to a family of Catholic intellectuals, the firstborn of six children. At just four years old, he experienced the invasion of Hungary by the Red Army that burned his house; he was ordained a priest in 1975 and a year later obtained a doctorate in theology, of which he later became a professor in Esztergom and at the Pontifical Gregorian University. His academic career led him to also become a professor of canon law, rector of the Péter Pázmány Catholic University and dean of the postgraduate institute of canon law.
But his real rise in the ranks of the church began in 1999, when John Paul II appointed him titular bishop of Puppi and auxiliary of the diocese of Székesfehérvár: in 2003 he made him a cardinal. The Hungarian cardinal – being one of the five cardinal electors appointed by the Polish pope in the next conclave (a small minority compared to the majority of Bergoglians) – is considered an ace up the sleeve by the more conservative sectors of the church.
For ten years he was the president of the Hungarian Episcopal Conference and for a similar period the number one of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences: a solid base in terms of potential votes. He also boasts a powerful scientific literature activity (about 250 essays and twenty-five volumes in the field of canon law and medieval history of canon law alone) and a firm position on doctrine but, at the same time, always inclined to dialogue.
Erdo is very attentive to the dynamics of Europe and maintains that the continent urgently needs to rediscover its Christian roots. His most traditionalist positions emerge in the 2015 synod when he speaks out against access to the Eucharist for divorced and remarried people. Civil unions between homosexuals – he clarifies – cannot in any way be assimilated to the family.
On the subject of contraception he is considered close to the ‘pro-life’, and even on refugees he has a different approach from the totally open-minded one of Francis.
The Hungarian cardinal participates both in the conclave that elects Benedict XVI and in the one that nominates Francis, with whom he maintains fruitful relations – despite their differences – throughout his pontificate. Defined as a moderate and tactful man, compared to many neophytes, he also knows well the logic of the assembly of cardinals who elect the Pope. (ANSA).
Read article…
