Pope Benedict XVI announced on 2012.01.06 that he would elevate the following 22 prelates to the Sacred College of Cardinals in a consistory on 2012.02.18. And among this list of this Ordinaries two Heads coming from 2 different Sui Iuris Eastern Catholic Churches, namely His Beatitude George Alencherry of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church and His Beatitude Lucian Muresan of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church. Below are the Information regarding this 2 Heads of their respective Sui Iuris Eastern Rite Churches.
"Cardinal-Designate Mar George Alencherry [Malayalam: à´®ാà´°് à´—ീവര്à´—ിà´¸് ആലഞ്à´šേà´°ി (Mar Giwargis Aalancheri)] (born 19 April 1945) is the current Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly succeeding Varkey Vithayathil as head of the Eastern Catholic Syro-Malabar Churchsince his confirmation by Pope Benedict XVI on 25 May 2011.[1]. According to Syro-Malabar tradition, he should be granted the title of "Patriarch of Mar Thoma Nasranis and the Gate of All India." On Friday, January 6, 2012, it was announced that he would be among the list of prelates to be raised to the cardinalate by Pope Benedict XVI in a consistory scheduled for Saturday, February 18, 2012.
Alencherry was born in Thuruthy, Changanacherry. He was ordained a priest on 19 November 1972. He was secretary of the Archeparch of Changanacherry and assistant pastor of the cathedral as well as director of "Sunday Schools" in the archeparchy.
He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Seminary of St Joseph in Alwaye and earned a doctorate at the Institut Catholique de Paris, where he specialised in catechesis. On his return from Paris, he was appointed director of the Centre for Catechesis. He then directed the Pastoral Orientation Centre, Cochin, inter-ritual, which depends of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Conference (KCBC).
He served as a professor of Pastoral Counselling and Systematic Theology at the Faculty of "Paurastya Vidyapitham, Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies of Vadavathoor, Kottayam, and at the Pontifical Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Alwaye. He was vicar general of the archeparchy from 11 November 1996 until he was appointed first eparch of Thuckalay and was ordained on 2 February 1997.
On 24 May 2011 he was elected Major Archbishop. Pope Benedict XVI confirmed the election on 25 May 2011. Major Archbishop Alencherry said his services will be for all people of India. He stressed inter-rite relations, inter-faith harmony and ecumenism.
He is the first head of the Syro-Malabar Church to be elected by its synod. When Pope John Paul II made the Syro-Malabar Church a major archiepiscopal church in 1992, appointing Cardinal Antony Padiyara as its first major archbishop, he reserved the power to appoint the major archbishop and bishops. However, in 2004, the Holy See granted full administrative powers to the church, including the power to elect bishops."
"Lucian Mureşan (born on 23 May 1931) is the Major Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia(based in Blaj) and thus head of the Romanian Church United with Rome, Greek-Catholic.
Lucian MureÅŸan was born in the village of Firiza (now the Ferneziu district of Baia Mare),Romania, the tenth of Peter and Maria MureÅŸan's twelve children. He attended primary school in Firiza and secondary school in Baia Mare. He was initially unable to pursue his dream of becoming a Catholic priest because the Romanian Church United with Rome had been outlawed in 1948.
On 6 January 2012 Pope Benedict XVI named him cardinal. He will be created cardinal in the consistory on 18 February."
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Many of our Eastern Catholic brethren has criticized some heads of these different Eastern Catholic Sui Iuris Churches for receiving the Cardinalate, being a title only use in the Latin Rite by those who received it and that Eastern Catholic Major Archbishops and Patriarchs should not be named into such, though in the History some Eastern Catholics who have become part of the Sacred College of the Cardinal has contributed a lot in the Catholic Church, even one almost being elected Pope in 1958 by named of Gregory Peter Agagianian, Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church. Being named as a Cardinal did not necessarily mean that they are becoming Subordinates in the Latin Church but rather being given more privilege, namely the right to participate in future Papal Conclave to elect the Pope. Now we have 5 living Eastern Catholic Hierarchs who are part of the Sacred College of the Cardinals, and they are the following: His Beatitude Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; His Beatitude Cardinal Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of the Coptic Catholic Church; His Beatitude Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, Patriarch Emeritus of the Syrian Catholic Church and Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation of the Eastern Churches; His Beatitude Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, Patriarch Emeritus of the Maronite Catholic Church and His Beatitude Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church. It will make them 7 to be precised though it is certain that most of them reached the Age of 80, losing their right to Vote in Conclaves. If you say that they do not elect the Pope because it is the only duty of Cardinals from the Roman Church, not the Eastern Church, well we are talking about the Catholic Church as a whole and not divided into Churches
On behalf of this Blog, including the Facebook Group and Fan Page, we congratulate the Eastern Catholic Hierarchs being named as members of the Sacred College of the Cardinals. AXIOS!!!!!
His Beatitude Cardinal George Alencherry
Major Archbishop of Ernakulam Angamaly of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church
His Beatitude Cardinal Lucian Muresan
Major Archbishop of Fagaras si Alba Iulia of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church
For the Story of their Nominations to the Cardinalate, click at this link for more information
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