LISTEN: Cardinal Edward Egan Outlines Five Qualifications For New Pope
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - With the Cardinals voting on a successor to Pope Benedict XVI, the former Archbishop of New York has spoken out about who they should pick.
Cardinal Edward Egan spoke Wednesday with WCBS 880's Michael Wallace and Pat Carroll.
He said that while the times certainly dictate what is needed in the leader of the Catholic church, there are what he called "five basic qualities" that they should look for.
Egan Outlines Five Qualifications For New Pope
Here they are, verbatim.
1. You want have a person who is a man of prayer, who loves to lead prayer with the people and prays continually and privately. That has to be the start.
2. Then you have to be someone who can repeat the gospel message with clarity and without too many complications, kind of rejoicing in the beauty of it.
3. Then you need someone who is going to take leadership and guide in areas such as today justice and compassion and peace.
4. You need someone who can administrate, can, as the Italians say, governare, run something.
5. Finally, you need someone who can handle criticism, handle it with calm and handle it with trust in the Lord.
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"I think those five qualities would be essential at all time and then, at specific times, there are other things that are needed, depending on what the times are calling for," he said.
Egan was asked who he thinks the voting Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel will elect.
"Well, I do know who I think it's going to be, but I have so much respect for Rich Lamb over in Rome. I know he wants to be the one who announces it on CBS and Rich and I have been great friends and I know his wife would be very unhappy if I were to tell you ahead of time," Egan said.
While Egan was a voting Cardinal at the conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI, he is now 80 years old, which makes him ineligible to vote at this conclave.
