For him now to have been elevated to the College of Cardinals suggests that a cautious ecumenism with the Church of England could be high on the papal agenda.But the Pope is 80 and not well, so that could change at any time. When it does, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will have a distinctive voice in choosing John Paul II’s successor.. From his throne on an altar in St Peter’s Square, the Pope yesterday gazed down with pride at the sea of scarlet caps and robes below him. The 44 newly-created cardinals, who had come from all over the globe, represented the strongest guarantee yet that his successor will be a pontiff in his own likeness, a theological conservative, a defender of tradition. From his throne on an altar in St Peter’s Square, the Pope yesterday gazed down with pride at the sea of scarlet caps and robes below him. The 44 newly-created cardinals, who had come from all over the globe, represented the strongest guarantee yet that his successor will be a pontiff in his own likeness, a theological conservative, a defender of tradition.
The consistory, the name given to the creation of new cardinals, meant that all but a handful of those who will one day elect the new pontiff have been created by John Paul II. It was the clearest sign yet that the Pope, who suffers from a form of Parkinson’s disease, feels his time is running out.The 44 clerics who have become “princes of the church” include Vatican bureaucrats, bishops of world capitals, patriarchs of the eastern Catholic rite and theologians.

Forty thousand Catholics – supporters of the new cardinals – attended the outdoor ceremony. Waving flags, they cheered as their man stepped forward, knelt before the Pope and received his cardinal’s hat, the biretta.Among those elevated to “the most exclusive men’s club in the world” was Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster and Cardinal Desmond Connell, Archbishop of Dublin. On the eve of the ceremony, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor recalled his contact with cardinals as a student in Rome several decades ago He said: “We used… to laugh at them, considering all the trappings slightly pompous.”Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor said he would carry on in his new role striving to improve ties between Rome and the Church of England. Regarding the election of a successor to John Paul II he said it was ” an enormous responsibility, but not a burden, something I will share with my brother cardinals”. Other new cardinals include Giovanni Battista Ré, head of the powerful Bishops’ Conference, and Vietnamese bishop Francois Nguyan Van Thuan, who was jailed for 13 years for his faith.The Pope, clad in splendid gold vestments, urged the cardinals to preserve the foundations of the faith while responding to the challenges of a globalised world. “You come from 267 countries, four continents and speak different languages” he said in a slurred voice.

“Is this not a sign of the ability of the church, already in every corner of the planet, to understand peoples with different traditions and languages?”Never before has one pontiff created so many cardinals. The number of cardinal electors has risen to 135 – the normal limit is 120. For the first time, the quota of Europeans drops to less than 50 percent.The Italians, with 24, are now outnumbered by the Spanish-Latin American bloc which Vatican watchers say will be a force in the conclave. Analysts are divided over whether the new line-up tips towards another foreign pope, because of sheer weight of numbers, or whether it might favour a return to tradition, an Italian on the throne of St Peter.Despite all the geopolitical differences, the new cardinals are united in their religious stance. The Pope has named men like himself, staunch in the defence of doctrine and orthodoxy.The one exception was German bishop Karl Lehmann, who had been passed over in the past three concistories. Lehmann caused furore with a radio interview suggesting that if he felt he was no longer up to the job the Pope should retire.. On his first visit to Canada, Prime Minister Tony Blair today called for better trade relations between Europe and North America.

On his first visit to Canada, Prime Minister Tony Blair today called for better trade relations between Europe and North America.
“Despite ever closer links, our trade relations have become bedeviled by disputes over issues like beef and bananas,” Blair said in his speech to Canada’s Senate and House of Commons.As Blair flew into Ottawa on Wednesday, Canada announced a ban on British meat, milk and livestock. The ban came after pigs in Britain were diagnosed with foot-and-mouth disease.Britain halted livestock exports on Wednesday, so the bans by Canada, United States and the European Union were not expected to be controversial.”We are committed to opening up markets, reducing the burden of regulation and encouraging enterprise and new technologies,” Blair said in his speech.He suggested more links in insurance and professional services and said the European Union and North America should discuss trade hurdles at a summit in Gothenburg, Sweden, in June and at a World Trade Organisation meeting in November in Doha, Qatar.He also said Europe should develop its own peacekeeping mechanism that could respond to crises when the United States decides not to.Blair assured that such a system would not undermine NATO “Our commitment to NATO is fundamental,” he said. “Done right, this will strengthen NATO.”Over lunch, Blair and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien are expected to discuss President George W. Bush’s plan for a missile-defense system, which many European countries oppose. They are also likely to discuss recent US and British airstrikes on Iraq, which Canada supported, and Blair’s policies in Northern Ireland.Blair, who travels to the United States after his meetings in Ottawa, will meet with Vice President Dick Cheney before flying to the presidential retreat at Camp David, Maryland, for talks with Bush. Security and defense are expected to be major topics.On Wednesday, Chretien suggested that Bush might abort the ambitious missile shield plan if there is strong enough opposition within NATO and from Russia and China.

He recently met four of the five leaders of the nuclear powers and was the first foreign leader to meet with Bush after the US president took office.Britain has traditionally supported US foreign policy and defense goals. Last week it demonstrated its commitment to the special relationship by joining the airstrikes in Iraq which were criticized by most European allies.As he prepared for his North America trip, Blair vigorously defended last week’s bombing in Iraq.”I think that what we are doing on Iraq is absolutely essential,” he told reporters before leaving London. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, he continued, “is a dangerous man, probably the most dangerous leader at the present time anywhere in the world.”Blair returns to London on Saturday.. One of the two teen-age suspects in the stabbing deaths of two German-born Dartmouth College professors has been arraigned on first-degree murder charges and ordered held without bail. The other remained in the state of Indiana, where he may fight extradition. One of the two teen-age suspects in the stabbing deaths of two German-born Dartmouth College professors has been arraigned on first-degree murder charges and ordered held without bail.