(National Catholic Register. Solène Tadié).
Cardinal Péter Erdő is today one of the few Catholic authorities to arouse the admiration of his peers and the interest of Catholic observers around the world. Yet he makes himself relatively scarce in the media and keeps away from the controversies and power plays that have often surrounded the Church in recent years.
What are the aspects of his work and personality that continue to set him apart, making him a model of religious leadership for our time and one of the leading papabili in the event of a conclave?
This passage from an article published in the journal of the Italian Catholic movement Communion and Liberation in 2004 reflected the perception the Catholic establishment already had of the newly created cardinal: “When Cardinal Péter Erdő gave his address at the Catholic University in Milan, the older professors recalled a precedent. In 1978, a young cardinal passed through the same Aula Magna in Largo Gemelli, Karol Wojtyla. There was the same impression of polite power, the same fascination for students.”