October events give cardinals chance to reflect on pope's ministry

Published: 2003-10-20

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The October meeting of most of the world's cardinals focused on celebrating the 25 years of Pope John Paul II's ministry and reflecting on the impact it has had on their own service to the church, several cardinals said. "The media has made it seem like we were sitting in corners plotting who would be the next pope. It was not that at all," said Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, South Africa. "The concentration was on the 25th anniversary; it was not an excuse to get together to do other business," he said after the Oct. 15-18 conference reviewing Pope John Paul's pontificate. "It has been a chance for cardinals to review the hard work that the Holy Father has done and remind themselves how blessed we have been to have him," said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington. New York Cardinal Edward M. Egan said, "Anyone who has lived over the last 25 years knows that the world was divided into two camps" when Pope John Paul was elected. "John Paul II was a major factor in the graceful ending of the Soviet empire," a historic change that decreased fears of a nuclear conflict, particularly for the people of the United States and Russia, he said.

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