D. João: it may not be the right time for a Latin pope
Considered by the Italian press as one of the strong candidates to succeed Benedict XVI, Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz is not very optimistic about the choice of a Latin American pope; he confirms that a strong sense of religiosity in Africa and Latin America carries great weight in the succession, but says that things don't happen suddenly in the Church.
247 – In an interview given on Tuesday the 12th, in the Vatican, to the newspaper O Estado de S.Paulo, the Brazilian Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, considered by the Italian press as one of the strong names for the succession of Benedict XVI, does not seem very optimistic about the choice of a Latin American pope. "Things don't happen suddenly in the Church," admits the current prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life of the Vatican.
He says, however, that the Church recognizes that there is a strong sense of religiosity in Africa and Latin America. "Europe, on the other hand, is experiencing a moment where historical monuments remain, but there is no vocation. There is a great decrease in the number of people (faithful), something truly worrying," he says.
At 65, the Archbishop Emeritus of Brasília, who is linked to a Liberation Theology without excesses, also acknowledged the existence of "tension" between different personalities within the Vatican and admits that the management of the Church is not always "so serene."
Read the interview with John Braz of Aviz.