Becoming Cardinal Collins

Collins slideshow now online

Robert Wilson at the Waterloo Region Record helped me put together a slideshow Wednesday, with photos of the trip to Rome and some audio of Canada's new cardinal speaking.

Check it out here, and check back in a day or two for another multimedia piece Robert is putting together as well.

Another amazing day in Rome

The day began bright and early -- actually dark and rainy -- with Cardinal Collins presiding over his first Mass as a cardinal, in the Vatrican Crypt of all places. Approximately 150 celebrated with him, surrounded by the tombs of fallen popes.

Later in the morning approximately 1,500 pilgrims attended an audience with Pope Benedict, and each new cardinal was allowed to bring two guests on stage to meet the pontiff. Collins, not surprisingly, brought sisters Catherine and Patricia of Guelph.

Here are a couple of shots from today. The last is of the Collins siblings going up the steps to meet the pope, although the positioning of Vatican security blocked the entire media area from getting shots of the actual meeting.

Leafs mystery solved

The Archdiocese of Toronto has apparently been getting some questions about which Maple Leafs player or players Cardinal Collins was honouring when he wore a Leafs jersey at St. Peter's Square last week.

Some eagle-eyed readers had noticed the jersey seemed to have different numbers on each sleeve.

Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations for the Toronto Archdiocese, told me today the jersey had 20 on one sleeve and 12 on the other, to represent the year in which Collins became a cardinal. The back of the jersey had +COLLINS across the top and the number 12.

It's official!

Guelph's own Thomas Christopher Collins was officially elevated into the College of Cardinals during a ceremony this morning at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Here are a few images I captured at the event:

We're on our way!

The Guelph contingent is en route to Rome for the big day on Saturday.

As I write this at Charles De Gaulle Airport in Paris, a number of Guelphites (including Father Dennis Noon of Church of Our Lady) are on their way to Italy. I'm not sure how they got a flight almost three hours earlier than mine, but I'm sure we'll all meet up later today.

I will have to hit the ground running, with Archbishop Collins scheduled to deliver the Opening Mass at 4 p.m. Rome time, which is only 90 minutes after I'm to arrive in the Italian capital.

We'll have some coverage from Rome in the Saturday paper, with the bulk of our in-paper coverage to begin Tuesday (since there's no paper on Family Day). We will also be posting stories daily to the website and I will try to have some new offerings on this blog over the coming days as well.

In a funny coincidence, U of G prof Massimo Marcone, who we wrote about Wednesday, was on the same plan to Paris with us. He transferred here to go on to Mali, West Africa, where he is working with World Vision on the pending food crisis in that part of the world.

Federal Tories to be in Rome

I got an email Wednesday afternoon from an official in the Prime Minister's office, letting me know the government will be well-represented in Rome this weekend. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will lead the delegation, which will also include Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney and Julian Fantino, associate minister of National Defence. "On behalf of our government, I offer my warmest congratulations to Cardinal-designate Collins as he begins this new phase of his ministry," Flaherty said in a news release. "His strong committment to promoting human dignity, faith and charity has been recognized beyond just the Greater Toronto area and the wider Roman Catholic community."

Collins drops by Guelph alma mater

Archbishop Collins had a conference call this morning with 15 local Catholic students gathered in the board room at Bishop Macdonell high school.

Collins, on a rooftop in Rome overlooking St. Peter's Square, was to speak to the students via Skype but could not get a connection to the online networking tool.

He joked he was relying instead on "good Canadian technology," speaking via his trusty Blackberry.

We'll have a story about the event in tomorrow's paper.

A look at the new cardinals' rings

We had heard Archbishop Collins and the other 21 new cardinals would receive gold rings of a new design which would differ from previous inductees into the College of Cardinals. While cardinals in the last several consistories received rings of a design approved by Pope John Paul II, the new design was approved by Pope Benedict XVI himself.

The Vatican booklet for this weekend's celebrations offers this description of the new design:

The back part of the ring represents a stylized column like those found in Saint Peter’s Basilica, while the face is a basrelief in the shape of a cross.

On the face are figures of Saints Peter and Paul, modeled on their statues located in front of the Basilica, representing faith and missionary proclamation.

Between the two Saints, as if to illumine them, is placed an eight-pointed star, a clear reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Inside the ring, beneath the face, are the arms of Pope Benedict XVI in bas-relief.

Vatican releases booklets of weekend celebrations

The Vatican has published on its website booklets for this Saturday's Consistory and Sunday's Papal Mass with the 22 new cardinals.

The booklets include information about those being elevated as well as copies of their oaths, prayers and music to be offered during the two celebrations and the wording of the Gospels.

Find them here.

Cloud hanging over weekend's Consistory?

This weekend's Consistory celebration will apparently take place under a bit of a cloud.

A Reuters report this week describes a power struggle within the Vatican and involving members of the College of Cardinals, which Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins is set to formally join Saturday.

"The consistory will be taking place in an atmosphere that is certainly not very glorious or exalting," one unnamed bishop told Reuters.