Bernard Law to Francesco Marchisano

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 11, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is another installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are eligible to have a role in electing the next pope.

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Bernard Francis Law, 73
Archpriest of Basilica of St. Mary Major

Bernard Francis Law was born Nov. 4, 1931, in Torreon, Mexico, son of a U.S. Air Force colonel. He finished his studies at Harvard University; entered St. Joseph’s Seminary at St. Benedict, in Louisiana, and from 1955 to 1961 studied at the Pontifical Josephinum College at Worthington, Ohio.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson (now Jackson) in Mississippi, in May 1961. From 1963-1968 he was the editor of the Natchez-Jackson diocesan newspaper; from 1968-1971 he was the director of the U.S. bishops’ committee on ecumenical and interreligious affairs.

In October 1973 he was appointed bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in Missouri and received episcopal ordination that Dec. 5.

He was appointed archbishop of Boston on Jan. 11, 1984. He was elevated to cardinal in 1985. He was often the spokesman for Catholics in the United States on behalf of Christian unity and the progress of Catholic-Jewish relations.

He resigned as archbishop of Boston in December 2002.

Curial membership:

* Eastern Churches, Clergy, Divine Worship and the Sacraments, Evangelization of Peoples, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education, Bishops (congregations)
* Culture, Family (council)
* Council of Cardinals for Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See

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Karl Lehmann, 68
Bishop of Mainz, Germany

Karl Lehmann was born May 16, 1936, in Sigmaringen, Germany. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau in October 1963, and holds doctorates in philosophy and theology from the Gregorian University, Rome.

He taught dogmatic theology at the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz. He later taught at the Albert Ludwig University, Freiburg im Breisgau, and was a member of the International Theological Commission.

He also edited the official publication of the documents of the Joint Synod of the Dioceses in the Federal Republic of Germany (Synod of Wuerzburg, 1971-75).

In June 1983 he was appointed bishop of Mainz and received episcopal ordination that Oct. 2. Since 1987 he is president of the German bishops’ conference.

In 1991 he was special secretary of the First Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops. He was elevated to cardinal in 2001.

Curial membership:

* Eastern Churches, Bishops (congregations)
* Christian Unity (council)
* Patrimony of the Holy See (office)
* Special Council for Europe of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops

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Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez, 68
Archbishop of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez was born Oct. 31, 1936, in Barranca, Dominican Republic. He earned baccalaureate in sacred theology at the Pontifical Seminary St. Thomas of Aquinas in Santo Domingo.

He was ordained a priest on March 18, 1961, in La Vega, and later obtained advanced degrees in pastoral sociology from the International Center for Sociological Formation of Clerics and in social science from the University of St. Thomas in Rome.

Returning to the Dominican Republic, he was named vicar coadjutor of the cathedral in La Vega. Thereafter, in the following years, he attended canon law courses at the Gregorian University in Rome.

He was appointed bishop of the Diocese of San Francisco de Macorís when it was established in January 1978 and received episcopal ordination that Feb. 25.

From December 1979 to May 1984 he was rector of the Nordestana di San Francisco de Macorís University. In November 1981 he was named archbishop of Santo Domingo. From 1984 until December 2002 he acted as president of the Dominican bishops’ conference.

In 1982, having founded the University Catholic Foundation supported by the Catholic University of Santo Domingo, he became grand chancellor. He was elevated to cardinal in 1991.

As president of the Permanent Dominican Commission, he has also contributed to the preparation and execution of the celebrations held on the 5th centennial of the evangelization of Latin America.

Curial membership:

* Clergy, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life (congregations)
* Social Communications (council)
* Latin America (commission)

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Alfonso López Trujillo, 69
Retired archbishop of Medillin, Colombia

Alfonso López Trujillo was born Nov. 8, 1935, in Villahermosa, Colombia. He attended the Bogota archdiocesan major seminary. He continued his studies in Rome and obtained his doctorate in philosophy from the Angelicum, also taking also courses in theology and sociology and studying Marxism.

After his ordination as priest in November 1960, he continued his studies in Rome for another two years. He returned to Bogota and taught philosophy for four years at the local major seminary.

In 1968, he was an expert at the second general conference of Latin American bishops held in Medellin. From 1970-1972 he was vicar general of the Bogota Archdiocese. In February 1971 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Bogota and received episcopal ordination that March 25.

He then left the office of auxiliary to dedicate himself to the General Secretariat of CELAM (Latin American bishops’ council) of which he was elected general secretary in November 1972, and then reconfirmed in November 1974.

In May 1978 he was named coadjutor archbishop of Medellin, becoming archbishop on June 2, 1979. As general secretary of CELAM he worked intensely in preparing and the carrying out the third general conference of the Latin American bishops held in Puebla, Mexico, at the start of 1979.

Later, he was elected president of CELAM until 1984. He was elevated to cardinal in 1983. He was president of the Colombian bishops’ conference.

He was named president of the Pontifical Council for the Family in November 1990, and since Jan. 9, 1991, has been the retired archbishop of Medellin.

Curial membership:

* Doctrine of the Faith, Sainthood Causes, Bishops, Evangelization of Peoples (congregations)
* Latin America (commission)

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Javier Lozano Barragán, 72
President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers

Javier Lozano Barragán was born Jan. 26, 1933, in Toluca, Mexico. He was ordained a priest Oct. 30, 1955, and holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology.

He taught dogmatic theology and the history of philosophy at the Diocesan Seminary of Zamora. He was president of the Mexican Theological Society and Director of the Theological Pastoral Institute of the Latin American bishops’ council (CELAM).

In August 1979 he was ordained titular bishop of Thinisa in Numidia. From 1979-84 he carried out his episcopal service in the Archdiocese of Mexico. From 1985-97 he served as bishop of the Diocese of Zacatecas. In CELAM, he served as president of the departments for education and economy.

Since 1997 he has been president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers.

He was elevated to cardinal in 2003.

Curial membership:

* Bishops, Evangelization of Peoples (congregations)
* Culture (council)

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Jean-Marie Lustiger, 78
Retired archbishop of Paris

Jean-Marie Lustiger was born in the French capital on Sept. 17, 1926, of parents who were Polish Jews and had emigrated to France at the beginning of the century.

During the Nazi occupation his parents were deported and his mother died in the concentration camp of Auschwitz in 1943. The young Jean-Marie was spared because he was taken in by a family in Orleans.

Through contact with them he was converted to Catholicism and was baptized Aug. 25, 1
940, in the chapel of the bishop’s residence where 20 years later he would be the pastor.

He studied at the Montaigne Lyceum in Paris, then in Orleans, and later at the Sorbonne. In the years of university studies, he was an active member of the Young Christian Students.

After working for a year as a mechanic in Decazenville in the southwest of France, he entered the Carmelite Seminary in Paris. He earned a degree from the Catholic Institute in theology and a licentiate in letters and in philosophy from the Sorbonne. He was ordained a priest April 17, 1954.

As chaplain of students, he gave assistance in spiritual renewal at Richelieu Center. In 1969, he was called to direct the Parish of St. Jeanne de Chantal.

In November 1979, John Paul II appointed him bishop of Orleans. Episcopal ordination was conferred that Dec. 18.

In February 1981 he took over the post of archbishop of Paris. He also served as ordinary for Eastern-Rite faithful in France without ordinaries of their own. He was elevated to cardinal in 1983.

He was president delegate to the 1st Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, in 1991. He retired as archbishop of Paris in February.

Curial membership:

* Secretariat of State (second section)
* Eastern Churches, Bishops, Clergy, Institutes of Consecrated life and Societies of Apostolic Life (congregations)

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Franciszek Macharski, 77
Archbishop of Kraków, Poland

Franciszek Macharski was born May 20, 1927, in Krakow. During the war, under German occupation, he was a laborer. Following the liberation in 1945, he entered the metropolitan major seminary of Kraków.

At the same time he studied theology at the Jagiellonian University. He was ordained a priest April 2, 1950.

For six years, the young priest served as vicar in the parish of Kozy, near Bielsko-Biala. In 1956 he transferred to Switzerland, Fribourg, to continue his theological studies at the local Catholic University where in 1960 he received a doctorate in pastoral theology.

Returning to Krakow, he was named spiritual director of the metropolitan seminary and dedicated himself to teaching pastoral theology at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology at Kraków. Ten years later, in 1970, he was nominated rector of the same seminary.

In 1977 he was nominated canon of the metropolitan chapter of the cathedral of Wawel by the then archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

John Paul II named him archbishop of Krakow in December 1978. The Pope personally conferred episcopal ordination on him Jan. 6, 1979, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

He was elevated to cardinal in June 1979. He was president delegate of the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, in October 1999.

Curial membership:

* Secretariat of State (second section)
* Bishops, Clergy, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Catholic Education, Evangelization of Peoples (congregations)

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Roger Mahony, 69
Archbishop of Los Angeles

Roger Michael Mahony was born Feb. 27, 1936, in Hollywood, California. In 1950 he entered Los Angeles College, the archdiocesan preparatory seminary of Los Angeles. Thereafter, in 1954, he attended Our Lady Queen of the Angels Seminary at Mission Hills. After having finished his studies at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, he attended St. John’s Theologate.

He was ordained a priest on May 1, 1962. A few days later, he was assigned to the Cathedral of St. John of Fresno. The following autumn, Bishop Willinger asked him to complete his studies at the National Catholic School of Social Services at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Shortly after his return to California in 1964, he was nominated diocesan director of the Catholic Charities and Social Service, a position that he held for six years. In 1964 he also became administrator, and thereafter parish priest in Fresno.

Among his many positions, he was executive director of the Catholic Welfare Bureau and the Infant of Prague Adoption Service, and Chaplain of the diocesan society of St. Vincent de Paul. Father Mahony was a member of the West Coast Regional Office of the Bishops’ Committee for the Spanish Speaking.

He also was involved in civil problems: he was member of the Fresno Provincial Committee for Economic Opportunities, Committee of Alcoholics’ Rehabilitation, United Crusade, Community Workshop, Urban Coalition and Redevelopment Agency of Fresno.

In January 1975 he was named auxiliary bishop of Fresno. He received episcopal ordination that March 19.

In 1973 he became rector of St. John’s Cathedral. On 15 February 1980 he was transferred to Stockton as diocesan bishop. He was promoted to the see of Los Angeles in July 1985.

He was elevated to cardinal in 1991.

Curial membership:

* Social Communications (council)
* Economic Affairs of the Holy See (office)
* Council of Cardinals for Study of Organizational and Economic Affairs of the Holy See

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Adam Joseph Maida, 75
Archbishop of Detroit, Michigan

Adam Joseph Maida was born March 18, 1930, in East Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. His father, now deceased, came to the United States from a rural area near Warsaw, Poland.

Adam Maida graduated from St. Mary’s High School, Orchard Lake, Michigan, in 1948. Following graduation he entered St Mary’s College, Orchard Lake. In 1950, he transferred to St Vincent’s College, Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy. In 1956, he graduated with a licentiate in sacred theology from St. Mary’s University, Baltimore, Maryland.

In 1960, he received a licentiate in canon law from the Lateran University in Rome. In 1964, he was awarded a doctorate in civil law from the Duquesne University School of Law, Pittsburgh. He was admitted to practice law before the bar of the state of Pennsylvania and before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In May 1956 he was ordained a priest in Pittsburgh. Following his ordination, he served in the diocese of Pittsburgh as an associate pastor, vice chancellor and general counselor of the diocese, in the diocesan tribunal, and as assistant professor of theology at La Roche College.

In January 1984 he was ordained and installed as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In April 1990, he was named archbishop of Detroit and he was installed June 12, 1990. He was elevated to cardinal in November 1994.

He has served as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Canonical Affairs Committee, among other panels.

He was a member of the John Paul II Cultural Foundation, Rome, and episcopal moderator and president of the John Paul II Cultural Foundation, United States.

Curial membership:

* Clergy, Catholic Education (congregations)
* Migrants and Travelers (council)
* Institute for Religion Works (commission)

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Francesco Marchisano, 75
Archpriest of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica

Francesco Marchisano was born June 25, 1929, in Racconigi, Italy. He was ordained a priest in June 1952 and holds a licentiate in sacred scripture and a degree in theology.

He has served in the Roman Curia as undersecretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education (1969-1988). In October 1988 he was appointed secretary of the pontifical commission for the conservation of the artistic and historical patrimony of the Church (now known as Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church), and received episcopal ordination Jan. 6. 1989. He was raised to the dignity of archbishop in 1994.

He became president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church in 2003 and of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology in 1991. He has also served as member of the Roman Po
ntifical Academy of Archaeology.

In April 2002 he was nominated archpriest of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City State and president of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, the office of the Vatican’s chief engineer.

In October 2003 he retired from the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church. In August 2004 he retired as president of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.

In February he was named president of the Labor Office of the Apostolic See and, on the same date, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City State. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2003.

Curial membership:

* Catholic Education (congregation)
* Culture (council)
* Cultural Heritage (commission)

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