Word: ursi
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...might be a more conciliatory choice. A longtime teacher of Vatican diplomacy who was pro-nuncio to Indonesia during the anti-Communist bloodbath of 1965, Pappalardo capably moved into his faction-ridden Sicilian diocese as a unifying leader. A fellow southern Italian with an outside chance is Corrado Cardinal Ursi, 70, Archbishop of Naples. A widely admired pastor of the poor, Ursi travels from parish to parish to be sure all his people are cared for. His serious drawback is his parochialism: he speaks only Italian and has never served outside the country. Ugo Cardinal Poletti, 64, vicar-general...
...alarm of the worshipers, the blood of Naples' patron saint refused to move on schedule. According to tradition, this failure occurs only when disaster is imminent. That disaster might have been the earthquake that struck Northern Italy last week (see box following page). But Naples' Corrado Cardinal Ursi, calling for intensified prayer, identified the threat as "neopaganism," which his flock interpreted as an oblique but unmistakable reference to the rise of Italian Communism...
...Cardinal Ursi triumphantly elevated the reliquary encasing the vial. An attendant, seeing the frothy liquid, happily waved his handkerchief at the congregation (it is considered a good omen if the blood bubbles or froths). A beaming priest applauded. The cathedral bells were rung. The congregation, with restrained excitement, continued to pray in thanksgiving...
...Gennaro was dropped from the Vatican's official church calendar in 1969, along with St. Christopher and some other saints whose existence was in doubt. Since then Cardinal Ursi, who is Archbishop of Naples, has been trying to down-play the celebration. Among other things, he has persuaded the congregation to refrain from roaring its approval when the liquid bubbles. But recently, a new encyclopedia labeled the San Gennaro spectacle a "residue of paganized Christianity which the church has not managed to remove from Neapolitan usage...
...bring the blood of all Naples to a boil. San Gennaro, a newspaper editorial proclaimed, was "not just the patron but the godfather of Naples." A professor at the University of Naples, Gastone Lambertini, accused "modern" Catholics of having an "anemic faith." He announced that he had secured Cardinal Ursi's permission for a group of scientists from the university to study the phenomenal blood of Naples' patron saint...