Pope Praises Courage at Ceremony for Cardinals

VATICAN CITY â€”  Clergymen who will help select the next pontiff knelt before Pope John Paul II on Saturday to receive the red hat of cardinal and hear praise for what some have endured: gulag prison camps and bloodshed in Bosnia.

“In Rome, you have the history of the early Christian martyrs. Today, you had some living martyrs,� said one of the 30 new cardinals, Archbishop William H. Keeler, 63, of Baltimore. Another American elevated to cardinal was Detroit Archbishop Adam J. Maida, 64.

Some of the new cardinals are struggling to rebuild their lives and the Roman Catholic Church after decades of persecution in former authoritarian regimes such as Albania and the Soviet Union. Others traveled to the Vatican from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cuba, Africa and Asia.

The group represents 24 nations, reflecting the Pope’s goal of expanding the international character of the College of Cardinals.

It also broadens John Paul’s imprint on the conclave. During his 16-year papacy, he has named 100 of the 120 cardinals under 80 years old and eligible to vote for Pope, many of whom may share his conservative views on issues such as birth control and the ban on women priests.

As the Pope read the list of the new cardinals--first announced Oct. 30--the 6,000 people in the main Vatican auditorium applauded. The ovation grew when he reached the names of those once jailed in the Soviet Bloc, Cuba and Vietnam. Many people rose to their feet when the Pope announced Vinko Puljic, the archbishop of Sarajevo.

“I am thinking in particular of the Christians of Sarajevo and Bosnia-Herzegovina,� the 74-year-old pontiff said. “The devastating roar of weapons has not yet ceased, and so much innocent blood continues to be shed without any prospect for peace in sight.�

The Pope, who confronted the Communist regime in his native Poland, took special note of others who have “had to endure the oppression of an atheistic totalitarian regime.�

One new cardinal, Archbishop Kazimierz Swiatek of Minsk, Belarus, spent nearly 10 years in Soviet prisons. The archbishop of Prague, Miloslav Vlk, was harassed by secret police under the Communists and washed windows for a living. Archbishop Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino of Cuba spent a year in a labor camp in the mid-1960s.

Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, the archbishop of Hanoi, was put under house arrest by Vietnamese Communist rulers from 1963 to 1989.

The others knelt before the Pope and were given the three-cornered red hats that signify the position. They will receive their rings today.