Who are the Americans advising Pope Benedict XVI about U.S. politics and protocol as he begins his first official visit?
The pontiff’s inner circle has been a matter of some debate, especially since he is famous for keeping his own counsel, and spending his free hours in solitary pursuits like reading and playing the piano.
But the lineup of Americans, who are traveling as part of his 30-man entourage on Shepherd One, offers a glimpse of U.S. power players in Rome, including:
Archbishop James M. Harvey, head of the papal household and one of the most powerful Americans in the Vatican since he handles requests for meetings with the pope and arranges his appearances. The Milwaukee native has held the post for 10 years.
Cardinal William J. Levada, one of Benedict’s first appointments to replace himself as the church’s top cop. Before going to Rome, Levada was the archbishop of two of America’s most politically liberal cities, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco. Besides being the enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy, in his new job, the fourth-generation Californian handles hundreds of complaints of clergy sex abuse.
Cardinal F. James Stafford, head of the Vatican office that deals with indulgences, who has spent 12 years in the Vatican. The son of a Baltimore furniture store owner who had planned to pursue a medical career as a young man before a friend’s violent death altered his course, Stafford served in Baltimore, Memphis and Denver before being called to Rome.
On this side of the Atlantic, of course, Edward Egan and Donald Wuerl, the archbishops of New York and Washington, respectively, are the pope’s hosts. But the Bavarian-born pontiff also has strong ties to a number of Catholic thinkers and activists in this country, ranging from lay men to princes of the church, most of whom are aligned with the church’s orthodox wing. Among them are:
Cardinal Avery Dulles, the son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and nephew of former CIA Director Allen Dulles, who is one of the leading Catholic theologians in America. Dulles, a Catholic convert, is one of the few men ever made a prince of the church without having first served as a bishop. His name was suggested to Pope John Paul II by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, under the direction of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, who was reportedly an ally of Ratzinger’s in the conclave that elected him pope. Among the American cardinals, George has the profile closest to Benedict, says veteran Vatican correspondent John Allen: “Cerebral, difficult to pin down or to label, and given to speaking in fully formed paragraphs rather than sound-bites.”
Rev. Joseph Fessio, a former doctoral student and the founder of Ignatius Press, the U.S. publisher of Benedict’s writings The San Francisco-based Ignatius has been wildly successful for a small publishing company, printing 1.6 million books and videos this past year. Fessio had been provost of Ave Maria University, founded by Catholic philanthropist and pizza magnate Tom Monaghan. After being summarily dismissed from that post last year, he returned as theologian in residence.
Bishop Michael O. Jackels of Wichita Kansas, who worked for Ratzinger for eight years in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Jackels was named a bishop in the last months of John Paul II’s reign.
Msgr. Charles Brown, a priest from the New York Archdiocese who also worked for Ratzinger in the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.
Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, a Lutheran-turned-Catholic priest who founded the monthly journal First Things, based in New York City. Neuhaus, who has advised President George W. Bush on religious and ethical issues including abortion, stem-cell research and cloning, was named one of Time magazine’s 25 most influential evangelicals in America in 2005.
George Weigel, a theologian, writer and activist based at the conservative Ethics and Policy Center in Washington D.C., who spent long hours interviewing then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he was writing a bestselling biography of the late John Paul II, “Witness to Hope.” Weigel, who has disagreed with Benedict and his predecessor on the death penalty and the church’s ‘just war’ teachings, is nevertheless a strong advocate of the pontiff.
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