Christ, Hospitality and Compassion - The Spirit is Still Breathing
Cardinals Napier & Rodriguez
Date
25 November 2010 4:00 pm
Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier, O.F.M., Archbishop of Durban, South Africa, was born on March 8, 1941 in Swartberg, South Africa. He was ordained for the Franciscans on July 25, 1970 following philosophical and theological studies at the Catholic University of Louvain.
After learning Xhosa, Cardinal Napier worked in the parish of Lusikisiki and did pastoral work in Tabankulu. In 1978, he was named Apostolic Administrator of Kokstad and appointed Bishop of the same see in 1980, receiving episcopal ordination the following year. During the turbulent changes that marked the South African political scene, he was deeply involved in mediation and negotiation work along with other national and provincial Church leaders. Cardinal Napier served as President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference from 1987 to 1994. In 1992, he was promoted to Archbishop of Durban and in August 1994, was named Apostolic Administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Umzimkulu. Since November 1999, he is President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference (SACBC).
Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., Archbishop of Tegucigalpa (Honduras), was born on December 29, 1942 in Tegucigalpa.
He was ordained for the Salesians in June 1970, and holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome, and a diploma in clinical psychology and psychotherapy from Leopold Franz University, Innsbruck. Cardinal Rodriguez has taught chemistry, physics and music at various Salesian colleges in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala and was professor of moral theology and ecclesiology at the Salesian Theological Institute, Guatemala, and rector of the Salesian Philosophical Institute in the same country.
In October 1978, he was appointed titular Bishop of Pudentiana and Auxiliary of Tegucigalpa, receiving episcopal ordination on 8 December. Cardinal Rodriguez was promoted to Archbishop of Tegucigalpa in January 1993, and was President of CELAM (1995-99). He is currently President of the Episcopal Conference of Honduras.