ROME
National Catholic Reporter
by John L Allen Jr on Feb. 17, 2012 NCR Today
ROME — Theologically all cardinals may be equal, but in terms of celebrity appeal, some are obviously more equal than others. Each consistory, when a pope inducts new members into the church’s most exclusive club, tends to have its own “rock star” – that one new cardinal who is head and shoulders above everyone else on the buzz meter.
In February 2001, when John Paul II created a whopping 42 new cardinals, that rock star was Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Honduras, a handsome, young polyglot who seemed the new face of the church in Latin America. In March 2006, Benedict’s first consistory, it was Stanislaw Dziwisz of Poland, John Paul’s longtime personal secretary, because it felt like a celebration of the late pope’s life and legacy.
This time around, the rock star of the consistory is quite obviously Timothy Dolan of New York.
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