The election of the new brass of the Bishop's Conference also confirms the general consensus around the figure of Cardinal Bergoglio.
An evaluation? “For others to make, not me”. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio withdrew himself with his usual low-profile style from pressure that in recent days has asked him to take stock of his two three-year mandates as president of the Argentine Bishop's Conference.
More than inspiring reflections on the past, the "changing of the guard" that took place among the top brass of the Argentine Bishop's Conference, has given an idea of what the future steps of the Argentine Church will be, as well as those of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
More than inspiring reflections on the past, the "changing of the guard" that took place among the top brass of the Argentine Bishop's Conference, has given an idea of what the future steps of the Argentine Church will be, as well as those of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The hundred and ten Argentine bishops, gathered in a plenary and elective assembly held between Monday and Saturday, in a retreat house in Pilar, to choose the Archbishop of Santa Fe, José Maria Arancedo, as their new President. The election took place with an absolute majority in the third ballot. This was after the first two votes – for which a qualified majority of two-thirds is required – saw a neck-and-neck race between Arancedo and the Bishop of Neguén, Virgilio Bressanelli (later chosen by his colleagues as first vice-president).
A competition that was not an indication of any splits and polarizations in the Argentine episcopate, but rather a confirmation of the wide convergence among Argentine bishops in the area and ecclesial sensibility represented by each of the contenders.
A competition that was not an indication of any splits and polarizations in the Argentine episcopate, but rather a confirmation of the wide convergence among Argentine bishops in the area and ecclesial sensibility represented by each of the contenders.
Arancedo, who is 71 years old, a native of Buenos Aires and cousin of the former president, Raùl Alfonsìn (whose funeral he celebrated in 2009), is linked to the “Montinian” ecclesial line, a conciliar position that goes back to Cardinal Edoardo Francisco Pironio (who died in 1998, and whose cause for canonization is currently underway).
“We others,” the new president of the Argentine bishops explained in a recent interview, “have been deeply marked by the figure of Paul VI and his encyclicals – with their images of dialogue and evangelization – Ecclesiam suam and Evangelii nuntiandi, as the key to interpret the Council.”
In the same interview, Arancedo reaffirmed that the traditional option for the poor that has marked the pastoral work of the Latin American Churches “is not a strategy: it is faithfulness to the Gospel. When we were in Aparecida, the Pope said to us: 'the option for the poor is a Christological one'. One cannot do without the Christological theme. It is Christ who has chosen the poor. He hid his dignity in the face of a poor one. A Church that is not close to the poor would not be faithful to Jesus Christ.”
“We others,” the new president of the Argentine bishops explained in a recent interview, “have been deeply marked by the figure of Paul VI and his encyclicals – with their images of dialogue and evangelization – Ecclesiam suam and Evangelii nuntiandi, as the key to interpret the Council.”
In the same interview, Arancedo reaffirmed that the traditional option for the poor that has marked the pastoral work of the Latin American Churches “is not a strategy: it is faithfulness to the Gospel. When we were in Aparecida, the Pope said to us: 'the option for the poor is a Christological one'. One cannot do without the Christological theme. It is Christ who has chosen the poor. He hid his dignity in the face of a poor one. A Church that is not close to the poor would not be faithful to Jesus Christ.”
Bergoglio, by statute, could not be confirmed for a third term at the helm of the Argentine episcopacy. But the passing of the baton takes place under the banner of continuity. In recent years, Arancedo's collaboration with Bergoglio at the heart of the Bishop's Conference, as second vice-president, has been harmonious. The other men elected to executive positions are also all notoriously in full human and ecclesial agreement with the Jesuit cardinal.
The aforementioned vice-president Bressanelli is a Dehonian father, who for twenty years, has lived in Rome as superior general of his religious congregation, returning to Argentina at the end of his long “Roman” mandate. His nomination as diocesan bishop of Neuquén – a diocese in which he has already been coadjutor bishop – arrived on November 8, allowing him to accept a role reserved for bishops who head local churches. Mario Antonio Cargnello, the Archbishop of Salta, was elected as second vice-president.
While Enrique Eguía Segui was elected to the role of secretary general; since 2008 he has collaborated with Bergoglio as his auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
The aforementioned vice-president Bressanelli is a Dehonian father, who for twenty years, has lived in Rome as superior general of his religious congregation, returning to Argentina at the end of his long “Roman” mandate. His nomination as diocesan bishop of Neuquén – a diocese in which he has already been coadjutor bishop – arrived on November 8, allowing him to accept a role reserved for bishops who head local churches. Mario Antonio Cargnello, the Archbishop of Salta, was elected as second vice-president.
While Enrique Eguía Segui was elected to the role of secretary general; since 2008 he has collaborated with Bergoglio as his auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Buenos Aires.
In its own way, the identikit of those destined for elected positions confirms the consensus that the Argentine Church continues to show for its primate.
In his years as president of the episcopacy, Bergoglio ensured a substantial unity of shared intentions on the part of the vast majority of the bishops. Without imposing conformity or single models, his dedication to the ordinary pastoral work in the sign of “apostolic fervor” and “meekness” has kept the Church far from the temptation to perceive itself as a socio-political corporation, offering a unitary point of reference for ecclesial sensibilities with different accents.
Even the less-than-ideal relations with Kirchnerism have ended up channeling the Church's relations with politics into an institutional beehive. This has cleared the field of any promiscuity that would have risked corruption spreading between government leaders and members of the upper clergy. The kind of corruption that left its mark on Menem's presidency.
In his years as president of the episcopacy, Bergoglio ensured a substantial unity of shared intentions on the part of the vast majority of the bishops. Without imposing conformity or single models, his dedication to the ordinary pastoral work in the sign of “apostolic fervor” and “meekness” has kept the Church far from the temptation to perceive itself as a socio-political corporation, offering a unitary point of reference for ecclesial sensibilities with different accents.
Even the less-than-ideal relations with Kirchnerism have ended up channeling the Church's relations with politics into an institutional beehive. This has cleared the field of any promiscuity that would have risked corruption spreading between government leaders and members of the upper clergy. The kind of corruption that left its mark on Menem's presidency.
For Bergoglio, in the current condition, the continental mission which the Latin American episcopacies have given themselves as a mandate in the 2007 assembly at Aparecida implies the passage from an idea of Church as a “regulator” of the faith to a Church that is a facilitator of the faith. In a rare interview granted Wednesday to the workers of the press and communications team of the national Bishop's Conference, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires re-proposed some of the salient traits of his pastoral concern, focusing attention also on the diffused temptation of neo-clericalism: “We priests tend to clericalize the laity. And some laypeople ask us on bended knee to be clericalized... It's a sinful complicity (…). The layperson must live as a layperson with the strength of baptism, that empowers him to be the leaven of God's love in society (…). To sow hope and proclaim the faith, not from a pulpit but in daily life”.
Freed from the commitments of the Bishop's Conference, Bergoglio will be able to dedicate himself to the service of his diocesan Church. What he calls “la mi Esposa” (my Bride). In his recent terms, his authority both in Argentina and the college of cardinals has grown precisely thanks to the dedication with which he has guided and served the diocese of which he is the bishop. His flight from protagonism and 'careerism', which is typical of worldly clergy, his predisposition to learn the faith from children and the poor, put across the image of a pastor who is “married” to his diocese. A diocese Benedict XVI has mentioned to the Episcopate again and again. Over time, a harmonious and non-ostentatious affinity has developed between Benedict XVI and the cardinal who received the most votes after Ratzinger, in the 2005 conclave.
This 17 December, Bergoglio will turn 75, reaching the retirement age threshold for Catholic bishops.
The Cardinal will send his letter of resignation of his post without plotting to suggest or request extensions on his mandate.
In Argentina, despite the restlessness of a few frustrated, career-minded men, dressed in cassocks, there is widespread and peaceful hope that the Cardinal will remain at the helm of his archdiocese for a long time to come.
The Cardinal will send his letter of resignation of his post without plotting to suggest or request extensions on his mandate.
In Argentina, despite the restlessness of a few frustrated, career-minded men, dressed in cassocks, there is widespread and peaceful hope that the Cardinal will remain at the helm of his archdiocese for a long time to come.