Thanks to Lella
for leading me to this story.
It seems quite appropriate that the feast day of St. Apollinaris, first Bishop of Ravenna, is also the birthday of the only living emeritus Bishop of Ravenna, Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, who turned 96 today - the oldest member of the current College of Cardinals.
The world's oldest
living cardinal turns 96:
'Benedict XVI is a great man and a saint'
Translated from
July 20, 2010
Left photo: Shortly after the 2005 Conclave, Cardinal Tonini was photographed giving Benedict XVI a very affectionate greeting. Center and left, the cardinal at the Ravenna residence where he lives, yesterday (center) and today (right).
RAVENNA, July 20 - At the Opera di Santa Teresa (Work of St. Teresa) where he lives, they are busy looking for him. Cardinal Ersilio Tonini marks his 96th birthday today, and he is tireless as ever, as if he did not feel the weight of his years nor the oppressive heat gripping the city.
He had just finished a TV interview - the first today of many that have come to mark his birthdays in recent years - but he was not in his study, nowhere near a telephone, and not even in the garden.
It turns out he was presiding at a board meeting of the Fondazione Pro Africa, one of his pet projects, which has just built a hospital in Burundi.
After the death of the German Cardinal Paul Augustin Mayer earlier this year at age 99, Tonini is now the world's oldest cardinal - so even international TV crews are on hand for him.
Yesterday, speaking to us, he said, "For me, the years do not count. Life is beautiful at age 10 as it is at age 100 if one thinks of it as a step towards our destiny, not as a burden to carry. What counts is to do what one has to do the best way you can, giving of yourself daily".
You have been giving out precious teachings as a parish priest, as a professor and as a cardinal. What most influenced your formation?
My parents who were extraordinary persons; my elementary school teachers; in fact, all the teachers I have had, and the bishops who guided me along the way. I was lucky to have had persons who helped me understand early enough what is useful for life, what we must not allow to escape before it is too late.
Such as?
The biggest mistake one can make is to waste time - then to realize eventually that you could have enriched your life but now it is too late. I am not speaking of material things, obviously, but of spiritual gifts, those by which one can help improve even a little part of the world.
You became Archbishop of Ravenna in 1975. For the people of Ravenna, you have been 'the cardinal' par excellence. Do you feel their affection?
Oh yes, they surround me every day with affection. Ravenna is my family now. Papa Montini sent me here with great trust and tenderness. And the city has rewarded me with its love.
The Church has been caught up in a storm of 'scandal'. How do you think she has reacted?
She is moving ahead with courage and doing what she has to do. Those who sinned will be appropriately called to account, without a doubt. But personally, I have always found in the ecclesial world, where I grew up, great respect for the weakest. I can only have great praise to the teachers that I had. If only it were like that everywhere! Nonetheless, I am not ashamed to be part of this world.
And how do you think Papa Ratzinger has been dealing with it?
He is one of the most learned men in the world, one of the best prepared, even if he almost dissimulates his immense competencies. It is a great virtue. I first met him in Rome when I gave the Lenten exercises for bishops and cardinals, and he was a bishop. I am very proud of his commitment. He is a great man, like John Paul II was. He is attentive, reserved, with a very quick and acute intelligence - he is a saint who has always given his neighbor primacy.
On your birthday, Mass will be celebrated in the crypt of the Santa Teresa residence. What is your dearest birthday wish?
I will continue to do my best for my neighbor even in the future. Especially, I would like to continue helping young people: I want them to understand the joy of life, to respect themselves and to look to the future with confidence.
[Somewhere in the PRF, I translated and posted a beautiful story Cardinal Tonini told, about how his father died in a car accident just outside the Church where he had come to attend Mass celebrated by his son.]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 18/08/2010 15:03]