Cardinal George Mentions a Few Cardinals that He Likes

Of those listed I've met Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga and attended a Mass that he said earlier this year. I liked him, for what its worth--he was very joyful.



From 'After John Paul, what do you do for an encore?'



"A very interesting man in that group is Angelo Scola," George said, talking about the 61-year-old cardinal-archbishop of Venice, Italy, who was among the 30 new cardinals. "He's been around and has been known internationally because he's a scholar."...





One potential candidate is Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan. "[Tettamanzi] is a very, very capable man, obviously, and well-respected," George said.



Another Italian whose name George mentioned more than once over the last week in Rome is newly elevated Cardinal Tarcisco Bertone, 68, the bishop of Genoa. "Everybody knew him. He was the No. 2 guy in for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," George said, adding that Bertone was "very helpful" to the American cardinals last year when they were crafting new church law governing the handling of cases of clergy sexual abuse of children. "He has a lot of good will in the United States."...



George also spoke highly of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, Austria, who is widely considered to be among the strongest non-Italian candidates from Europe.



"He is well thought of in Europe. Whether as the pope or not, who knows. But he's someone who knows all the languages, is well-respected as a theologian, who has a very pleasant personality. He's a nice man to talk to, and that's important," George said. "Speaking to people here -- again, not as pope -- but as who are the bishops you respect, his name comes up again and again."



And George also likes Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, 60, of Honduras, saying, "He's obviously a very vigorous man, speaks all the languages, and is a very good man."