Support for German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears to be building ahead of the conclave to select a new pope, Italian newspapers reported Wednesday. by Baysides Blog entry

Blog: Our Lady Of The Roses
by Baysides

Support for German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears to be building ahead of the conclave to select a new pope, Italian newspapers reported Wednesday.

Pray

Date: 4/16/2005 4:30:27 AM ( 19 y ) ... viewed 1440 times

VATICAN CITY (AP) - Support for German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger appears to be building ahead of the conclave to select a new pope, Italian newspapers reported Wednesday.

Corriere della Sera, citing anonymous sources, said at least 40 cardinals have voiced some backing for the conservative Ratzinger during daily meetings before the conclave opens Monday with an expected 115 cardinals.

Another newspaper, La Repubblica, put the number of possible Ratzinger backers at 50, without identifying a source for the estimate.

The reports could not be independently verified. But a staff member for a European cardinal, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, expressed serious doubts that cardinals are making such clear declarations at this stage.

The cardinals have agreed not to talk to the media until after the conclave, the Vatican said. The pre-conclave meetings are held in private.

The suggestions of mounting support for the Vatican-based Ratzinger would still be shy of the votes needed: a two-thirds majority, or 77 votes.

Ratzinger, who leads a powerful Vatican office that oversees and enforces church doctrine, has been mentioned as a possible contender because of his close ties to Pope John Paul II. But Ratzinger will turn 78 on Saturday, which has led to speculation he could face challenges from cardinals who want a younger pontiff.

The newspapers also reported that the blocs opposed to Ratzinger have not united around a single name - suggesting a series of ballots may be needed before the leading contenders emerge. In October 1978, the College of Cardinals voted eight times over three days before selecting the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

The Italian cardinals - the biggest national group with 20 in the conclave - could favor Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, 71, the archbishop of Milan and a frequently mentioned papal prospect.

But hopes among Latin American Catholics run high that their region could claim the papacy for the first time. Leading candidates appear to include Cardinal Claudo Hummes, 70, of Brazil and Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, 62, of Honduras.
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#20 - IMPORTANCE OF PRAYER (PART I)

"Ask, and it shall be given you: seek, and you shall find: knock, and it shall be opened to you. For every one that asketh, receiveth: and he that seeketh, findeth: and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. " - St. Matthew 7:7-8

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CONSTANTLY
"My child and My children, pray constantly a vigil of prayer going throughout your world and the earth, for the little time that is being allotted to mankind." - Jesus, August 21, 1985

DAILY
"You must all now keep a constant vigilance of prayer. And when I say constant, My children, it means daily." - Our Lady, March 18, 1978

TRANSCENDS
"My children, the power of prayer is great, for prayer transcends your soul into the realm of Heaven." - Jesus, May 14, 1977

MUSIC
"We wish to hear the prayers of atonement, for it is like music to Our hearts. The Rosary has always been music to Our hearts." - Jesus, September 14, 1985

MOUNTAINS
"Prayer can move the mountains and reach the highest places in Heaven." - Our Lady, November 1, 1975

POWER
"The power of God reaches out to prayer." - Our Lady, November 1, 1970

REPENTANCE
"Prayers can move even the hardest of souls to repentance." - Our Lady, September 7, 1976

TOGETHER
"Our home, my children, was a simple home of prayer.... The family that will pray together shall stay together." - St. Joseph, March 18, 1976

MORE
"If you pray more, you will learn to love prayer. It will become a way of life that you cannot turn from, for it will give you something that you have never found in the world." - St. Theresa, May 17, 1975

SUNDAY HOLY HOUR
"I wish that there be held on these sacred grounds an hour of reparation on the Day of the Lord. This hour will be for your Vicar and the fallen hierarchy in the House of God. This hour will also be in atonement for the discard of the holy Day of God." - Our Lady, September 14, 1972

SAINTS
"The power of prayer has made saints from sinners." - Our Lady, October 2, 1972

CHILDREN
"In order for your children to be saved, My parents, you must keep a constant vigilance of prayer going throughout your home, and those homes of your immediate families. One good example can save a dozen, My children." - Our Lady, October 5, 1985

SOUL MEDITATION
"My children, We are always with you, but you must think your way to Us. This may be confusing at first, but really quite simple; for prayer is a form of soul meditation through the thinking process. What you hear within is the Spirit within." - Our Lady, October 6, 1970

UNLESS
"Unless you pray, you will be lost." - St. Thomas, November 24, 1973

UNANSWERED
"Your prayers will not go unanswered. Ask, and you shall receive; seek and you shall find the way. Believe and you will be given the way." - Jesus, October 6, 1979

WEAPON
"Pray, for prayer is the greatest weapon given to you now to remove this evil from among you." - Our Lady, September 7, 1974

ACTION
"Pray, but act also, for prayers without action is like placing a mess of meat on a dead man's grave." - Jesus, August 5, 1978

OPEN UP
"They do not always have to be written words, but pray from your heart; open up your heart to My Son." - Our Lady, November 20, 1976

SPEAK ONCE
"Speak once, and if not hastened or listened to, speak no more, but pray that the Eternal Father in Heaven will open up the ears of those who have closed their hearts and their ears to the truth." - Our Lady, November 20, 1979

WOMEN
"The angels command respect to My Son. You [women] will cover your heads when you pray." - Our Lady, November 23, 1974

BEGIN AND END
"Each day of your life must begin with prayer and end with prayer." - Jesus, February 10, 1977

STRENGTH
"The prayers of others can reach out and give this strength to the weak." - Our Lady, March 24, 1972

INVASION
"O My children, prayer and penance is the major, now, blockade against invasion." - Our Lady, March 15, 1978

CHASTISEMENT
"The coming Chastisement will be lessened in your area if you will follow the direction I have given you from Heaven: a constant vigilance of prayer." - Our Lady, April 22, 1973

REASON
"The sacramentals - your Rosary, My children, the beads of prayer, your Scapulars were given for reason." - Our Lady, October 6, 1977

PURGATORY
"You will pray for the souls in purgatory, and in the Lenten season ahead you will gain many graces for them." - Jesus, February 1, 1978

MEMORIZED
"If necessary you will write them down, like in the ABCs of your children's learning. You will write the prayers and have them memorized by your children, to retain the Faith in their hearts." - Our Lady, December 7, 1978

SOUL
"You will keep the Rosary, the beads of prayer, going throughout the world, bead for bead. For every bead, there shall be a soul. That is how important the Rosary is to the world today." - Jesus, June 18, 1986

ENEMIES
"Pray for your enemies. Love those who castigate you, My child. Accept the way of the cross, My child. It is the short road to the Kingdom of the Eternal Father." - Jesus, May 28, 1975

SUMMED UP
"Prayer, sacrifice, atonement - We ask little of you. All can be summed up in one word, My children: love." - Our Lady, November 1, 1971

OVERRULE
"Prayer can overrule all evil." - Our Lady, June 18, 1992

CONDITIONAL
"All prophecy given to you, My children, is conditional to man's response. Remember this in the days ahead." - Our Lady, September 28, 1976

ASK
"You must not forget the power of prayer to the Father. Ask in the name of My Son, and He cannot refuse you." - Our Lady, June 8, 1973

KNEES
"Could I take you now and open to you into sight what is coming upon mankind, you would soon be groveling upon the dust, praying on your knees and walking on your knees, to avoid the terrible destruction that shall be wrought by the Ball of Redemption!" - Our Lady, September 28, 1979

ST. JOSEPH
"Saint Joseph has been forgotten. Love him. Pray to Saint Joseph, for he will guide you on the path." - Our Lady, August 14, 1970

BEACON
"Prayer is your beacon in the dark world." - Our Lady, August 14, 1970

DISASTERS
"We have given you the road away from these disasters; and that road is only guided by prayers, penance, and atonement." - Our Lady, March 18, 1989