Conservative Indian cardinal in race for papacy
Apr 15, 2005
New Delhi: Indian Cardinal Ivan Dias, known to toe the line of the late Pope John Paul II on homosexuality, birth control and the role of missionaries, is among the top contenders in the race to be the next pope.
(sify.com, 13 April , 2005 ) Ordained a priest on December 8, 1958, in Mumbai, Dias is said to wield considerable influence in the Vatican, so much so, according to some reports, that some liberal priests fear him.
Shortly after his ordination, he was selected to go to the Ecclesiastical Academy of Rome for studies and was a Vatican diplomat for more than 30 years in various parts of the world before returning to Mumbai, the city where he was born, in 1997 as archbishop.
Named Cardinal by John Paul 11 in February 2001, Dias has some factors going for him to land the job of leading the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, observers say.
Reports say he is a multi-linguist -- fluent in as many as 16 languages, mostly European but including Korean.
Like John Paul II, he is orthodox, mirroring many views held by the late pope.
He is said to frown on priests with leftist tendencies and has a reputation for being a tough taskmaster who feels that priests owe their duty first and last to the Church.
John Dayal, secretary of the All-India Christian Council, describes Dias as "pro-life" and believes his brand of conservatism is good for the Church.
"Dias is a great admirer of Pope John Paul II and is seen as a conservative to the laity, which is very good for the Church," he said.
In a November 2003 Vatican address, Dias referred to homosexuality as a disease of the soul, and said he prayed for such people to be "cured of their unnatural tendencies."
Another admirer of Dias, Dolphy D'Souza, described him as "pastorally quite focused" and keen for an increased involvement of ordinary Catholics in Church functions.
On the negative side, Dias has been variously described by commentators as a "follower and not a leader," "cagey" and "a closed book" compared to the late pope.
The Asian Age newspaper said Dias's tenure as archbishop of Mumbai saw an exodus of Catholics to other Christian sects.
The paper said he is close to the conservative and financially powerful Opus Dei within the Roman Catholic church, a movement admired by some and feared by others.
Prior to his elevation to cardinal, Dias, at 68 relatively young by Vatican standards, was given several key assignments by the Holy See.
He was was posted as secretary of nunciatures in Europe, Africa and Asia for eight years from 1965 to 1973.
Dias was also posted as member of the secretariat of the Vatican State for nine years between 1973 and 1982, during which countries under his charge included Pope John Paul's mother country Poland, the formr Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and many African nations.
"Cardinal Dias is in a very traditional sense a diplomat of the Vatican," Dayal said.
After becoming a cardinal, Dias was appointed member of a council looking into the organisational and economic problems of the Holy See in 2001.
During the beatification of late Nobel laureate Mother Teresa at the Vatican in October 2003, it was Dias who read the homily at the beatification ceremony of Mother Teresa in Rome.
Conservative Indian cardinal in race for papacy