Weigel: ‘More St. Augustine, Less Lee Iacocca’

NEWARK STAR-LEDGER, May 20 — Amid widespread speculation about the extraordinary consistory of cardinals, papal biographer George Weigel sounded a calmer note in a discussion with the Newark, N.J., daily.

As Pope John Paul II met with the world's cardinals, many commentators suggested that the consistory might lead to a radical reconsideration of the role of the papacy.

Not so fast, said Weigel. He told the Star-Ledger, “People who imagine this consistory as producing dramatic structural innovations are crazy.

For 23 years, the Pope has been trying to get these guys [the cardinals] to think out of the box, to think about evangelization.” In Weigel's view, the Pope “wants these guys to think more like St. Augustine and less like Lee Iacocca.”

Weigel also dismissed the idea that the meeting is a “trial run” for the conclave in which the cardinals will choose John Paul II's successor.

“The Pope is not thinking about dying. He is booked solid through 2002,” Weigel said.

Evidence for Mother Teresa's Cause, In by August

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 22 — The evidence-gathering for Mother Teresa's cause for canonization should be completed by August 15, the wire service reported.

The inquiry began in July 1999. After the evidence is in, the Vatican normally takes two or three years to decide on canonization, but Mother Teresa may take less time.

The revered nun died in 1997 in Calcutta at age 87.

Pope John Paul II waived the customary five-year waiting period before evidence could be gathered for her possible canonization.

At least three people have already stepped forward to say they received miraculous healings through Mother Teresa's intercession.

Papal Biographer Dies

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 22 — Tad Szulc, a foreign and diplomatic correspondent for The New York Times, died at age 74 in his Washington home, the wire service reported.

Szulc was born in Warsaw, Poland, and became a U.S. citizen in 1954. He wrote numerous books, including biographies of Fidel Castro and Pope John Paul II. His last book was the novel To Kill the Pope, based on the 1981 assassination attempt against John Paul II.

St. Thérèse Brings ‘Ecumenism of Holiness’

IRISH TIMES, May 22 — Cardinal Cahal Daly wrote in the Irish daily that relics of St. Thérèse, newly arrived in Northern Ireland, could foster greater peace between Catholics and Protestants.

He also recalled Pope John Paul II's idea of the “great ecumenism of holiness,” in which holiness like St. Thérèse's by its nature draws people together into what the cardinal called “the peace which God alone can give, and which Northern Ireland so desperately needs.”

Cardinal Daly thanked Protestant churches that greeted the saint's relics by ringing their bells.