A Papal contender?

While the Catholic Church is celebrating the 24th anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II, many are focusing their attention on Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi as his possible successor. In late September the cardinal took up his new post as head of the archdiocese of Milan.

The cardinal was transferred from the smaller diocese of Genoa to the much bigger and more important diocese of Milan. Some observers consider this move as a visible sign of favour by Pope John Paul II. It could be interpreted as a Slav Pope paving the way for a successor not only suitable to sit on the Chair of Peter, but also of continuing the same style of pontificate, but with an Italian accent.

Indeed Pope John Paul and Cardinal Tettamanzi have much in common. Two weeks before he left Genoa, the cardinal published a very important letter on the family. This pastoral letter (see accompanying item) was considered as his legacy to the diocese of Genoa.

The cardinal stresses one of Pope John Paul's favourite points - that the family is not just the basic building block of society but also the fundamental agent of the Church's evangelisation.

He emphasises that this missionary priority is meaningless unless the family itself lives the faith deeply. On this basic point the cardinal and the Pope see eye to eye.

They both focus on the basic elements for real progress: the very essential role of parents in the religious education of their children; the value of example over preaching; the importance of personal prayer; the duty to attend Sunday Mass; and the centrality of the traditional family, based on permanent marriage between a man and a woman.

They are also in total agreement in social trends that are oppressing the modern family, from a "divorce mentality" to the exploitation of human sexuality.

But at this point, Cardinal Tettamanzi shows a more cutting verbal style, honed perhaps by the particular challenges posed by today's Italian society - a society that is Catholic by tradition, but with a strong element of superficiality where faith is concerned and, as the cardinal says, where most families "live like pagans".

Even the Church's instructors can fall short. Here Cardinal Tettamanzi openly asks: "Let's ask ourselves honestly, do Christian educators pray?"

He blames also the mass media for promoting banal values and dangerous moral messages. TV in particular is guilty of "acts of aggression" against the family.

Another point the present Pope and the cardinal share visibly is they both tend to be verbose. The cardinal's pastoral letter has 120 pages, about as long as the Pope's encyclical. Isn't it hard today to imagine an average Catholic turning so many pages that sort of buttress even very simple points with extensive quotations from previously published teachings?