Indian cardinal emerging as stronger contender to be the next Pope
Apr 16, 2005
The Catholic community in Mumbai believes that Cardinal Ivan Dias who is one of the probables in the race for Papacy, would make history, if elected, as he would be the first one from Asia to grace the seat that has been the fount of 2005 years of Christianity.
(newindpress.com/ANI, April 15 2005) MUMBAI - Dias was a close friend of Pope John Paul II, and the only Asian seriously in the running to succeed him. As the Archbishop of Mumbai, Dias, even though one of the dark horses to become the next leader of the Roman Catholic church, has a huge support rallying behind him from all quarters.
Cardinal Dias has spent over three decades outside India, much of it as the Pope's emissary around the world, reinforcing the Vatican's conservative messages on issues such as homosexuality and abortion. But since his return to Mumbai eight years ago, Dias has kept a low profile and shunned the media.
With death of Pope John Paul II and the election process to begin on Monday (April 18), there is speculation about the next spiritual leader of the community. The selection, as in the past, has always been notoriously unpredictable.
The Catholic Church now draws two-thirds of its 1.1 billion members from Latin America, Asia and Africa, but has never had a Pope from the Third World. Cardinals from the "Global South" could play a decisive role in choosing a successor to John Paul II, and in some ways the conservative Dias could be a safe pair of hands.
Church leaders and Christian commentators in India, home to 18 million Catholics, are excited about his prospects. Father Joe D'souza at the Mount Carmel Church, where Cardinal Dias was baptised, believes that an Indian-born Cardinal is seen as one of the possible candidates to succeed the Pope.
"The community would feel very elated I would say and joyful about this happening because all the time we have been having Italian Popes. And with the coming of the reign of Pope John Paul II when he ruled for 26 years, he has changed the whole equation of the College of Cardinals.
Like for example we always would have more cardinals from Europe, but now the whole scenario has changed and the Cardinals are more from Africa, Asia and what you would call the third-world countries like even Latin America.
So these Cardinals could turn the balance of the next pope coming and so that is why we all feel that Cardinal Ivan Dias has a better chance of emerging, " he said.
Born in Mumbai in 1936, Dias spent his first three years as a priest doing pastoral work in Bombay. He then went to Rome to study, the first step towards a career in the Vatican hierarchy. In 1964, he joined the Church's diplomatic service and spent the next 30 years working in nunciatures, or papal embassies, around the world and as a desk officer in the Vatican's Secretariat of State.
Frequently invited to speak at conferences abroad, Dias is fluent in Hindi, English, Italian, French and Spanish. But he has kept a lower profile at home, where Catholics make up only 1.8 percent of India's majority-Hindu population of more than a billion people.
Many here say an Indian pope would boost the church throughout Asia, and the Catholic Secular Forum has asked its members to pray for the election of Dias.
"Definitely that he's contesting for the Pope's election, and I would be very proud if he becomes the Pope in future.I wish him all the best," said Anthony Cohelo, a resident of Mumbai.
Indian cardinal emerging as stronger contender to be the next Pope