Word: villot
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...recalled that he sounded "full of serenity and hope." He summoned Sebastiano Cardinal Baggio, head of the Congregation for Bishops and a papabile (papal possibility) going into the last conclave, to discuss pressing business. At 7:30 he had his usual daily meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Jean Villot, 72, who within hours was to become once more the interim administrator, or Camerlengo, of the Holy See. Villot said that the Pope showed no signs of fatigue as he bade him good night. The day ended where it began, in the chapel with evening prayer. As the staff members...
...chapel door was opened and eight conclave aides entered to accompany Jean Cardinal Villot, the church's Camerlengo or chamberlain, to the flustered Luciani, who was still seated in his place under a fresco of the baptism of Christ. The Camerlengo, his face wreathed in smiles, asked the ritual question: "Do you accept your canonical election as Supreme Pontiff?" Luciani at first replied, "May God forgive you for what you have done in my regard." Then he gave his assent, "Accepto," and announced the name he had chosen for himself as the new Pope: loannes Paulus. The choice immediately...
...hours later, having replaced the white miters with red birettas, the Cardinals reassembled to begin making that decision. Promptly at 4:30 on Friday afternoon, Jean Cardinal Villot, Camerlengo (Chamberlain) of the vacant Holy See, gave a signal and the 70-member Sistine Chapel choir started to sing Veni Creator Spiritus (Come Holy Spirit). The Cardinals then filed into the Sistine Chapel. There, beneath Michelangelo's great fresco The Last Judgment, they seated themselves on facing rows of plain chairs at twelve long tables. There were too many Cardinals this time to accommodate them with the traditional canopied velvet thrones...
...moment, at least, the Cardinal most in the public eye is France's Jean Villot, the first non-Italian in modern times to be Camerlengo (Chamberlain) or interim administrator of the Vatican between Popes. Villot was Paul's Secretary of State, which theoretically made him the Vatican's virtual Prime Minister and eminently papabile. In fact, Curial Italians routinely bypassed the Frenchman and dealt with Benelli, who was nominally Villot's assistant until he assumed the Florence see. But an adroit performance as Camerlengo could make Villot, 72, an attractive compromise choice...
...Curial appointments cease when a Pope dies, but some work sputters on. The Congregation for Saints' Causes continued to investigate the sanctity of candidates last week, while Villot's former secretariat acknowledged the mountains of condolence messages. The usual Vatican postage stamps marked sede vacante (vacant see) were issued. A prized collector's item, they raise revenue that will help to offset the cost of the conclave (budgeted initially at $2 million...