Leo XIV Chosen to Preserve Francis’ Revolution – Cardinal
On female priests, he added that it is “complicated”: “It’s not the most important question. Ordination to the priesthood isn’t the big priority. It has to be done with the consent of the whole Church.”
Beautiful Touching Between Elderly Men
Cardinal Radcliffe is a friend of the late Pope Francis. In 2016, while recovering from an operation on his jaw following a cancer diagnosis, he attended a conference in Rome with the then pope:
“He came over and rested his forehead on my forehead for about 30 seconds. Nothing was said. It was beautiful.”
Leo XIV in Continuity with Francis, but Better Manners
Pope Leo XIV was elected partly “to bring back people who had been alienated by Francis”, and partly to continue his predecessor’s work.
"We chose Leo because he could do both – he could move it on but also gather people in", Cardinal Radcliffe believes.
He describes Leo XIV as a “deeply still” person: “He doesn’t react off the hip, he listens, and he has a great ability to mediate.”
Homosexual Eucharists: "You Are All Going to Hell"
Cardinal Radcliffe was involved in the founding of the homosexual Eucharist “Soho Masses” in London in 2013: “There were demonstrators there telling us that we were all going to Hell,” he remembers.
“People kept saying that I campaigned for gay rights, but I was just saying, ‘You’re welcome’. Everybody has their home in the Church – I wasn’t doing anything radical.”
“There Has Been a Homosexual Pope”
Cardinal Radcliffe believes that a homosexual man could be pope.
“I’m sure there has been one already! I’ve no idea who. But I don’t think people’s sexual identity is particularly important. I’m not worried about somebody being homosexual – I’d be worried if they didn’t love anybody.”
Picture: Timothy Radcliffe © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk, CC BY-NC-ND, #newsPzvhiktmzw