Word: bernardine
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...years ago, he began awakening at 6 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. in order to get in an extra hour of prayer. On one occasion a friend phoned him in the middle of the night seeking a priest who could hear the confession of an anguished wayward Catholic. Bernardin turned up, but was introduced as "Father" to spare the penitent any embarrassment...
...Bernardin's record is that of a highly successful ecclesiastical politician. He be came the country's youngest bishop in 1966 and general secretary of the hierarchy's national staff two years later. By 1974 he had an international reputation as an elected representative to an elite group that supervises bishops' synods in Rome. Serving with him was Karol Cardinal Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul...
...Bernardin demonstrated his considerable tactical skills over the controversial Call to Action conference in 1976. He won the admiration of the liberal clergy by helping to organize the event. But when delegates attacked papal teachings regarding birth control, celibacy and women priests, Bernardin managed to preserve good relations with conservatives in the Vatican. He had warned them about the likelihood of dissent by the delegates, and steadfastly maintained his support of church policy...
...knack for high-level church politics without ever studying in Rome and attended public as well as parochial schools as a boy in Columbia, S.C. His father, a stonecutter from northern Italy, died when Joseph was six, and his mother supported the family as a seamstress. In 1945 Bernardin left the University of South Carolina, then entered a seminary. He returned home in 1952 as a protégé of liberal Bishop Paul Hallinan...
Asked about his goals in Chicago, Bernardin says simply, "I do not come here with a blueprint. I don't have a bagful of tricks. I've come to proclaim the Lord and his Gospel, to be a good pastor, to do everything I can to create a climate in which people can come together...