Great article about Cardinal Ouellet

Here's an excerpt. Read the whole thing!

Theologians, Apologists. What the New Bishops Have To Be

Over the past five months, twelve appointments have corresponded to this model. Here they are one by one: in Milan, Philadelphia, Manila, Fribourg... The cardinal who selects the candidates explains the reasons for the choice

by Sandro Magister

ROME, December 1, 2011 – Rounding the turn of his first year as prefect of the congregation for bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet (in the photo) has surveyed the course in an interview with Gianni Cardinale for "Avvenire," the newspaper owned by the Italian episcopal conference.

In the interview, he revealed among other things that it often happens, "more than I could have expected," that the candidate chosen to be made a bishop does not accept the appointment.

He indicated the reasons for such refusals in the growing difficulty of fulfilling the role, in a society in which the bishops are under public attack, "in part as a result of the scandals and charges concerning sexual abuse."

As for career ambitions – the cardinal cautioned – if a priest or a bishop aspires and maneuvers to be promoted to a prominent diocese, "it is better for him to stay where he is."

And he concluded the interview by sketching the profile of the bishop the Church needs most today. A bishop who is at the same time a theologian and an apologist, a public defender of the faith:

"Today, especially in the context of our secularized societies, we need bishops who are the first evangelizers, and not mere administrators of dioceses. Who are capable of proclaiming the Gospel. Who are not only theologically faithful to the magisterium and the pope, but are also capable of expounding and, if need be, of defending the faith publicly."