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| Marc Ouellet: Canadian pope prospect who says top job would be a 'nightmare' | Marc Ouellet: Canadian pope prospect who says top job would be a 'nightmare' |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| The conclave to select the next pope is a month away, but the tiny northern Quebec village of La Motte is already puzzling over how it will manage the flocks of tourists and pilgrims likely to arrive if its native son, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, emerges triumphant. | The conclave to select the next pope is a month away, but the tiny northern Quebec village of La Motte is already puzzling over how it will manage the flocks of tourists and pilgrims likely to arrive if its native son, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, emerges triumphant. |
| "We've just looked on the internet at the village from where Benedict XVI comes. There are up to 200,000 visitors a year," said René Martineau, La Motte's mayor. "We're a little village of 450 people. If 200,000 people end up coming here, I don't know what we would do with them." | "We've just looked on the internet at the village from where Benedict XVI comes. There are up to 200,000 visitors a year," said René Martineau, La Motte's mayor. "We're a little village of 450 people. If 200,000 people end up coming here, I don't know what we would do with them." |
| If the betting shops and whisper campaigns emanating from the Vatican are to believed, the 117 cardinals who will travel to Rome for the conclave seem a bit better prepared for the prospect of Ouellet succeeding Benedict. That outcome would entail a break with the tradition of European popes to usher in a man whose vocation arrived in uniquely Canadian fashion. It was while recovering from a broken leg after a game of ice hockey that Ouellet felt the call that would lead to him to a seminary at the age of 20. | If the betting shops and whisper campaigns emanating from the Vatican are to believed, the 117 cardinals who will travel to Rome for the conclave seem a bit better prepared for the prospect of Ouellet succeeding Benedict. That outcome would entail a break with the tradition of European popes to usher in a man whose vocation arrived in uniquely Canadian fashion. It was while recovering from a broken leg after a game of ice hockey that Ouellet felt the call that would lead to him to a seminary at the age of 20. |
| Since his ordination in 1968 he has been a parish priest in La Motte, a missionary and professor to future priests in Colombia over 11 years in the 1970s and 1980s, a Vatican administrator, a cardinal since 2003 and the top Roman Catholic official for Canada – perhaps the most turbulent and telling period of his career. | Since his ordination in 1968 he has been a parish priest in La Motte, a missionary and professor to future priests in Colombia over 11 years in the 1970s and 1980s, a Vatican administrator, a cardinal since 2003 and the top Roman Catholic official for Canada – perhaps the most turbulent and telling period of his career. |
| For the past three years Ouellet has been the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, the church's human resources department, vetting and nominating bishops around the world and guiding the tone and direction of the church on the front lines of the holy wars. | For the past three years Ouellet has been the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, the church's human resources department, vetting and nominating bishops around the world and guiding the tone and direction of the church on the front lines of the holy wars. |
| The post affords him a rare private audience with Benedict – a longtime friend and intellectual kindred spirit – every Saturday morning when they discuss the candidates' merits and whittle down the shortlists. | The post affords him a rare private audience with Benedict – a longtime friend and intellectual kindred spirit – every Saturday morning when they discuss the candidates' merits and whittle down the shortlists. |
| "Ouellet is also known as a very hard worker," said Anne Leahy, a former Canadian ambassador to the Holy See. "A lot of people noticed when he took on the job … there had perhaps been a slower rhythm of decisions on bishops. When he came in he cleared up a lot of the backlog. Decisions were made and things were done." | "Ouellet is also known as a very hard worker," said Anne Leahy, a former Canadian ambassador to the Holy See. "A lot of people noticed when he took on the job … there had perhaps been a slower rhythm of decisions on bishops. When he came in he cleared up a lot of the backlog. Decisions were made and things were done." |
| That vigour and certainty – not to mention, at 68, his relative youth – are seen as attributes in the cloistered bubble of conclave politics. His time in Colombia and the strong ties he has maintained in Latin America will also boost his standing among those who feel the next pope must nurture a region where the faith continues to thrive. | That vigour and certainty – not to mention, at 68, his relative youth – are seen as attributes in the cloistered bubble of conclave politics. His time in Colombia and the strong ties he has maintained in Latin America will also boost his standing among those who feel the next pope must nurture a region where the faith continues to thrive. |
| Despite his qualifications, Ouellet has demurred when asked about his prospects for taking on the church's top job, telling an interviewer in 2011 it would be "a nightmare". He said: "I see the work the pope has to do. It is a huge responsibility. Nobody campaigns for it." | Despite his qualifications, Ouellet has demurred when asked about his prospects for taking on the church's top job, telling an interviewer in 2011 it would be "a nightmare". He said: "I see the work the pope has to do. It is a huge responsibility. Nobody campaigns for it." |
| Modest, timid or genuinely terrified, Ouellet's professed reluctance might be owing to his eight years as archbishop of Quebec City and primate of Canada. | Modest, timid or genuinely terrified, Ouellet's professed reluctance might be owing to his eight years as archbishop of Quebec City and primate of Canada. |
| Ouellet chose to dedicate his life to the Roman Catholic church in the 1960s, when it was the most important institution in Canada's French-speaking province. Priests ran the school system, politicians paid heed to messages in the homilies and the seminaries were bursting with new recruits. | Ouellet chose to dedicate his life to the Roman Catholic church in the 1960s, when it was the most important institution in Canada's French-speaking province. Priests ran the school system, politicians paid heed to messages in the homilies and the seminaries were bursting with new recruits. |
| But much had changed by 2002, when he was dispatched to his home country by Pope John Paul II. Canada had just celebrated its first same-sex marriage, one that would lead to court battles and eventually new laws granting gays and lesbians full marriage rights. Church attendance was plummeting, including in Quebec, home to Canada's largest population of Catholics but a bastion of the liberalism and leftwing politics that so often clash with religious teaching. | But much had changed by 2002, when he was dispatched to his home country by Pope John Paul II. Canada had just celebrated its first same-sex marriage, one that would lead to court battles and eventually new laws granting gays and lesbians full marriage rights. Church attendance was plummeting, including in Quebec, home to Canada's largest population of Catholics but a bastion of the liberalism and leftwing politics that so often clash with religious teaching. |
| Ouellet arrived with a mandate to stop the slide towards religious liberalism in the church and during his term he was saddled with a public image as the hard-line conservative out of touch with modern society. Friends maintain it is an image at odds with the man they know as a fierce intellect with a warm, simple manner. | Ouellet arrived with a mandate to stop the slide towards religious liberalism in the church and during his term he was saddled with a public image as the hard-line conservative out of touch with modern society. Friends maintain it is an image at odds with the man they know as a fierce intellect with a warm, simple manner. |
| He testified before the Canadian senate, urging legislators to vote against legalising gay unions, which he described as "pseudo-marriage, a fiction". He decried a "culture of death" that had taken hold in his home province that included the acceptance of abortion and support for doctor-assisted suicide. | He testified before the Canadian senate, urging legislators to vote against legalising gay unions, which he described as "pseudo-marriage, a fiction". He decried a "culture of death" that had taken hold in his home province that included the acceptance of abortion and support for doctor-assisted suicide. |
| But Ouellet's infamy came from remarks at a 2010 anti-abortion rally when he said even women impregnated after having been raped should be denied abortion. "There's already a victim. Should we be making another one?" he asked. "Taking the life of another is always a moral crime." | But Ouellet's infamy came from remarks at a 2010 anti-abortion rally when he said even women impregnated after having been raped should be denied abortion. "There's already a victim. Should we be making another one?" he asked. "Taking the life of another is always a moral crime." |
| He was denounced by Canadian politicians across the spectrum. One popular Montréal newspaper columnist labelled him "the fundamentalist of Quebec". | He was denounced by Canadian politicians across the spectrum. One popular Montréal newspaper columnist labelled him "the fundamentalist of Quebec". |
| A few months later, while delivering his departing homily before returning to the Vatican, Ouellet gave a half-hearted apology, admitting some of his remarks had caused hurt and pain. "The message of the truth is not always welcome," he said. "It is painful for those who are listening and sometimes also for those who speak it." | A few months later, while delivering his departing homily before returning to the Vatican, Ouellet gave a half-hearted apology, admitting some of his remarks had caused hurt and pain. "The message of the truth is not always welcome," he said. "It is painful for those who are listening and sometimes also for those who speak it." |
| Adding to Ouellet's toll of trying to lead a flock against the currents of modern western values was a family drama unfolding back home in La Motte. The cardinal's younger brother, Paul Ouellet, an artist and retired teacher, had pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexual offences committed against two girls in the 1980s, when they were 13 and 14, nearly 30 years younger than their aggressor. Ouellet has never spoken of the incident publicly, but friends say it caused him deep pain. | Adding to Ouellet's toll of trying to lead a flock against the currents of modern western values was a family drama unfolding back home in La Motte. The cardinal's younger brother, Paul Ouellet, an artist and retired teacher, had pleaded guilty in 2003 to sexual offences committed against two girls in the 1980s, when they were 13 and 14, nearly 30 years younger than their aggressor. Ouellet has never spoken of the incident publicly, but friends say it caused him deep pain. |
| Geoffroy de la Tousche, a French priest who wrote a book last year based on his lengthy discussions with Ouellet on biographical and spiritual matters, said the cardinal often looked back on his highest-profile and most public post with a certain sadness. "I think it was difficult when he was in Quebec City to see that even his most simple messages were not accepted," he said. "Ouellet accepted the mission, I think, with the understanding that it would be difficult, but I don't think he thought it would be that difficult." | Geoffroy de la Tousche, a French priest who wrote a book last year based on his lengthy discussions with Ouellet on biographical and spiritual matters, said the cardinal often looked back on his highest-profile and most public post with a certain sadness. "I think it was difficult when he was in Quebec City to see that even his most simple messages were not accepted," he said. "Ouellet accepted the mission, I think, with the understanding that it would be difficult, but I don't think he thought it would be that difficult." |
| The obvious question for the man who sits on the papacy's doorstep is whether, after such difficulties communicating the main messages of the faith in his native language, he is the man to carry that message on to the world stage, where his every word will be scrutinised and any mis-steps harshly criticised. The answer is up to the Holy Spirit and Ouellet's cardinal colleagues. "He's a well-grounded person; he's intelligent and he sees his name being bandied about, and he knows his relative worth among his colleagues," said Leahy. "But I would suspect that, knowing up close what the papacy is like, he's probably very humbled by the whole thing." | The obvious question for the man who sits on the papacy's doorstep is whether, after such difficulties communicating the main messages of the faith in his native language, he is the man to carry that message on to the world stage, where his every word will be scrutinised and any mis-steps harshly criticised. The answer is up to the Holy Spirit and Ouellet's cardinal colleagues. "He's a well-grounded person; he's intelligent and he sees his name being bandied about, and he knows his relative worth among his colleagues," said Leahy. "But I would suspect that, knowing up close what the papacy is like, he's probably very humbled by the whole thing." |
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