The Vatican has promoted Canada's highest-ranking Roman Catholic priest, giving the controversial Bishop a powerful role in Pope Benedict's inner circle. Marc Ouellet was named chief of the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, a committee that vets bishop appointments and recommends candidates to the pope.
Ouellet, the Archbishop of Quebec and the Roman Catholic Primate of Canada, says he was surprised to get a tap on the shoulder from Pope Benedict.
“It is a mark of great confidence from the Holy Father and I am very grateful to him,” Bishop Ouellet told a news conference Wednesday in Quebec City.
“It is a huge responsibility.”
But the outspoken 66-year-old's road to the Vatican has been a bumpy one, and his time at the upper echelon of the church in Canada has been marked by controversy.
Bishop Ouellet, who has denounced allegations that the Pope covered up cases of sexual abuse by priests, was widely criticized this spring after he described abortion as an unjustifiable moral crime, even in rape cases.
When asked Wednesday about the legacy he will leave behind, Bishop Ouellet answered he hopes people over time will better understand the choices he has made.
“The historians will have to do their work,” he said.
The appointment will see Bishop Ouellet succeed 76-year-old Bishop Giovanni Battista Re, who has retired after nearly a decade in the post.
Bishop Ouellet, once considered a possible successor to Pope John Paul II, also aims to help Pope Benedict reverse the Catholic church's ongoing decline in the Western world.
“It's a difficult time, it's a time of crisis and so it is a time of decision,” said Bishop Ouellet, who has known Pope Benedict for years.
“I've been supporting him in difficult times.”
But those who disagree with Bishop Ouellet's firm stance on issues such as abortion are calling his appointment another distressing signal of the direction of the church.
“In his capacity as an official of the church, he should have been speaking up for the rights of those victimized within the church and for the rights of women in civil society,” said Lee Lakeman, spokeswoman for the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres.
“When he can get pregnant, he can have an opinion.”
Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/quebec-cardinal-marc-ouellet-promoted-in-vatican-leadership-shuffle/article1624022/
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