New Belgian cardinal so unknown that media misidentified him

Published: 2003-10-14

LANDSKOUTER, Belgium (CNS) -- Cardinal-designate Gustaaf Joos is so little known in his native Belgium that local media mistook him for another priest after the announcement that he was named a cardinal. However, church sources said Cardinal-designate Joos was appreciated as a "caring pastor" and a lifelong personal friend of Pope John Paul II. The Belgian parish priest was among 30 new cardinals named by the pope Sept. 28. He will be elevated in a consistory at the Vatican Oct. 21. Many in the Belgian media initially believed the new cardinal was Msgr. Andre Joos, an unrelated Belgian priest working at the Rome secretariat of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. "This appointment was a great surprise here -- not least for Msgr. (Gustaaf) Joos himself," said Toon Osaer, spokesman for the Belgian bishops' conference.

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