Word: rome
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...from his Milan post in 2003 after reaching the prescribed retirement age of 75, Martini should be enjoying a quiet, scholarly retirement with his biblical studies in Jerusalem. Still, most Church insiders say the Jesuit Cardinal, who turned 80 on Saturday, remains the single most influential Catholic leader challenging Rome's rigid-as-ever stances on moral issues...
...Martini has long understood that speaking softly is the best way for a dissenting voice to be heard. Most recently, in an interview published Sunday in the Rome-based daily La Repubblica, he politely challenged both Benedict and Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of Italy's bishop conference, for their repeatedly strong condemnations of an Italian government proposal to legalize civil unions for homosexuals and heterosexuals who don't want to marry. Though no supporter of gay marriage, Martini nevertheless decided it was time to register his opposition to the Vatican's hammering away on family-related issues. "The family...
...Both born in 1927, Martini and Ratzinger were already acclaimed Catholic scholars when Pope John Paul II promoted them to two of the top spots in the Church hierarchy: Martini to Milan in 1979 as Archbishop of Europe's largest diocese, and Ratzinger to Rome in 1981 as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office. Over the years, the two soft-spoken Cardinals became seen as intellectual and institutional titans, practically alter egos, and the undeclared leaders of opposing theological camps battling for the soul of the Church. Like Ratzinger's backers, Martini fans once hoped their man might succeed...
...Father Keith Pecklers, a Rome-based Jesuit professor of liturgy, says the gray-haired Cardinal continues to embody the religious order's approach. "Martini exhibits the best Jesuit qualities of unwavering loyalty to the church, and courageous leadership in reading the signs of the times and addressing contemporary issues with credibility," says Pecklers. "Most bishops retire into the shade. But Martini is as present as ever, and still a real prophetic voice within the Church hierarchy." His active role is even more notable in light of Martini's suffering - as John Paul did - from Parkinson's disease...
...Born in Rome, the son of a trumpet player, Morricone studied composition at a conservatory but earned his early money as an arranger of Italian pop. As he notes in the 1995 documentary Ennio Morricone, it was one such chart--a raspy, twanging version of Woody Guthrie's Pastures of Plenty for U.S. singer Peter Tevis--that director Sergio Leone asked be adapted for his new western. Remove vocal, add whistling, rev up the guitar volume, and you have the theme for A Fistful of Dollars. This worldwide hit made the careers of Leone, Morricone and the obscure actor...