Cardinal Cé chosen by Pope to preach Lenten Retreat
Feb 22, 2006
Cardinal Marco Cé, the retired Patriarch of Venice, has been chosen by Pope Benedict XVI to preach the annual Lenten Retreat for the Roman Curia.
Feb. 13 2006 (CWNews.com) - The Lenten Retreat will follow the usual pattern, beginning on the first Sunday after Ash Wednesday, March 5, and continuing through that week, ending on Saturday, March 11. Each day the cardinal will preach two meditations in the morning and one in the afternoon. (This year, Cardinal Cé will base his meditations on the Gospel of St. Mark.) The schedule for the week also includes daily Benediction, adoration of the Eucharist, and Vespers.
The schedule for this year's Lenten Retreat was recently sent out to the Vatican officials who are invited to attend. Most of the leaders of the Roman Curia will take part in the spiritual exercises, held in the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the apostolic palace.
During the week of March 5- 11, all papal audiences will be canceled, and most Vatican offices will be closed.
An annual at the Vatican was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1929. At first the retreat, modeled on the Spiritual Execises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, was held at the beginning of Advent. Beginning in 1963, Pope Paul VI moved the event to the first full week of Lent.
In choosing the preacher for the Lenten Retreat, the Pope selects a prelate known for his spiritual insights. It is not surprising that the preachers have included future Roman Pontiffs: Cardinal Karol Wojtyla led the spiritual exercises in 1976, and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1983.
On several occasions, the preacher selected for the retreat has been raised to the College of Cardinals shortly after the event. Thus for example the American Cardinal James Hickey, the Brazilian Lucas Moreira Neves and the Vietnamese Francois-Xavier Van Thuan (all recently deceased), and the Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn all received their red hats shortly after preaching the Lenten Retreat. In 2005 the Lenten Retreat was led by Archbishop Angelo Comastri of Loretto.
Last year's Lenten Retreat was marked by the fact that Pope John Paul II, for the first time in his 26-year pontificate, did not attend the spiritual exercises. The Polish Pontiff, who was severely ill, followed the meditations by a closed-circuit television link in his private apartment.
Cardinal Cé, who will be 80 in July, has been well acquainted with Pope Benedict for many years. Ordained in the Crema diocese, the Italian prelate taught at the seminary there until he was named an auxiliary bishop of Bologna in 1976. Two years later he became Patriarch of Venice, replacing Cardinal Albino Luciani, who had been elected as Pope John Paul I. He was named to the College of Cardinals by Pope John Paul II in 1979, and retired as Patriarch in 2002 at the age of 76. He was replaced in Venice by Cardinal Angelo Scola.
Cardinal Cé chosen by Pope to preach Lenten Retreat