Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, (born September 21, 1949) is a German-Brazilian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church.He currently serves as Archbishop of São Paulo, since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 March 2007to succeed Cláudio Cardinal Hummes.
He was born in Cerro Largo, Rio Grande do Sul, to Edwino and Francisca (née Steffens) Scherer, and is a distant relative of the late Alfredo Cardinal Scherer, former Archbishop of Porto Alegre.
His mother was descended from German immigrants from Saarland.
After attending the minor and major seminaries in Curitiba, Scherer studied at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná and the Pontifical Gregorian University (from where he obtained his Doctorate of Sacred Theology in 1991) in Rome.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Armando Círio, OSI, on December 7, 1976.
He served as director and professor at the diocesan seminary of Cascavel (1977-1978), the diocesan seminary of Toledo (1979-1982, 1993), and the Centro Interdiocesano de Teologia de Cascavel (1991-1993).
Before doing pastoral work in Toledo from 1985 to 1988, Scherer taught philosophy at the Ciências Humanas Arnaldo Busatto (1980-1985), and theology at the Instituto Teológico Paulo VI (1985). He then taught at the Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná until 1994.
From 1994 to 2001, he was an official of the Congregation for Bishops in the Roman Curia, while serving as a Roman pastor and chaplain during his spare time.
On November 28, 2001, Scherer was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of São Paulo and Titular Bishop of Novi. He received his episcopal consecration on February 2, 2002 from Cláudio Cardinal Hummes, OFM, with Archbishops Armando Círio and Anuar Battisti serving as co-consecrators.
He was made Secretary General of the Brazilian Episcopal Conference in 2003.
Pope Benedict XVI named Scherer as the seventh Archbishop of São Paulo on March 21, 2007. He replaced Cardinal Hummes, who was made Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and thus brought an end to almost four decades of Franciscan leadership of the archdiocese before Hummes, Paulo Evaristo Cardinal Arns, had helmed it for 28 years.
The Brazilian prelate accompanied Pope Benedict for a great part of his visit to Brazil in May 2007, which was largely held in the former's see of São Paulo, also delivering a speech during a ceremony to celebrate the Pope's arrival.
Scherer is considered to be theologically moderate.
He once criticized liberation theology's use of "Marxism as a tool of analysis," yet supported its focus on social injustice and poverty.
In reference to the popular Brazilian priest Marcelo Rossi, Scherer stated that, "Priests aren't showmen...The Mass is not to be transformed into a show."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce