(National Catholic Reporter. Christopher White).
When Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet turns 80 on June 8, the prelate who was touted as a potential future pope in both the conclaves of 2005 and 2013, will no longer be able to participate in the next papal election. Ouellet, who was archbishop of Quebec from 2003-2010 and then prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops until his retirement in 2023 at age 78, has been a pivotal player under three papacies. And in two of those he played an outsized role in shaping the Catholic hierarchy throughout the world. The Canadian cardinal’s retirement last year brought about an end to an incongruous era, where a prelate much more identified with Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI was kept on by Pope Francis to lead the powerful Vatican office tasked with vetting potential candidates for the Catholic episcopacy.