Friends see Keeler, Maida join school of cardinals - new American Cardinal Archbishops William Keeler and Adam J. Maida - includes related article

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 9, 1994 by Cindy Wooden, Arthur Jones

VATICAN CITY -- U.S. Cardinals William H. Keeler of Baltimore and Adam J. Maida of Detroit joined the College of Cardinals Nov. 26 with the expectation of taking on greater responsibility in the church.

In Rome to receive their red hats from Pope John Paul II, they were joined by close to 1,000 family members, friends and archdiocesan faithful for prayer, liturgies in historic churches and sightseeing expeditions.

In addition to the positions they hold now, all of the active cardinals are named to Vatican congregations and councils. Some of the 30 new cardinals probably will receive new assignments from the pope.

Keeler said, "I hope, please God, to keep doing what I've been doing." He spoke to reporters after the consistory and before the two dozen buses carrying Detroit and Baltimore clergy and U.S. well-wishers arrived at the North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome, for a reception. Keeler said he believes the pope's naming two new U.S. cardinals, bringing their total to 12, "is another sign that the faith is alive" in the United States. "The Holy Father recognizes the vitality of this church," said the cardinal, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Maida, who arrived at the reception a little later with his 86-year-old mother, Sophie, said being a cardinal "gives you a visibility, a credibility. The perception is that it gives you a bigger voice and with that comes more responsibility." While formal receiving lines wound through the seminary auditorium, Mrs. Maida, seated in a wheelchair near orange trees in the courtyard, was surrounded by members of her son's flock and Detroit television cameras.

In line to greet Keeler were Rabbis Jack Bemporad and Joseph Ehrenkrans of the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. "We are very close to Cardinal Keeler," Rabbi Bemporad said. "We feel he has done so much for Catholic-Jewish relations that it is a distinct honor to be here."

In official national and international dialogues, as well as in individual cases of tension between Catholic and Jewish leaders, the rabbi said, Keeler has worked "to bring about better understanding."

"Everyone trusts him, because what you see is what you get and, secondly, he has tremendous practical skills," he said.

The reception and buffet lunch was a casual affair compared to the public reception that evening. The opportunity to pay "courtesy visits" to the new cardinals is also the one chance given to the public every three or four years to swarm into the Apostolic Palace, where Pope John Paul lives and works and where the Vatican Secretariat of State is housed.

Four days before the consistory the Vatican newspaper published a list of 21 marble-floored, art-filled rooms, halls and foyers where each of the new cardinals would greet the public -- under the watchful eyes of the Swiss Guards and Vatican police.

Another reception for the U.S. churchmen was hosted by Raymond L. Flynn, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the evening before the consistory. "This is a great honor not only to these two dedicated Catholic church leaders, the archdioceses of Baltimore and Detroit, but to the United States of America as well," said Flynn, who conveyed the personal congratulations of President Clinton to the new cardinals.

In addition to becoming members of the College of Cardinals, the prelates -- newly dressed in red cassocks -- become clergymen of the Rome diocese.

Following a custom that goes back to the time when the electors of the pope were Roman clergy, each of the new cardinals is assigned a titular church in the diocese. Keeler's church in Rome, St. Mary of the Angels, is famous for its design by Michelangelo and as the setting for funerals and other special liturgies involving famous Italians. The church is built into the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, constructed almost 1,700 years ago. In 1561 -- 228 years before Baltimore became the first U.S. diocese -- Pope Pius IV commissioned Michelangelo to convert the central hall of the baths' frigidarium -- the cooling-off room -- into a church. Although the building was expanded and redesigned in the late 1700s, much of Michelangelo's work and remains of the bath can still be seen. Keeler was expected to take formal possession of his titular church during a scheduled visit to Rome in April.

Maida was assigned the Church of Ss. Vitale, Valeria, Gervasio and Protasio, which sits some three dozen steps below street level next to a museum on Via Nazionale, a main thoroughfare crowded with shops.

The Detroit cardinal planned to take possession of the church Nov. 29. Built in the fifth century, the ancient Christian building is one of the four oldest churches in Rome. Pope John Paul returned Nov. 28 to the Paul VI Audience Hall, where the consistory was held, to greet Cardinals Keeler, Maida and Thomas J. Winning of Glasgow, Scotland. They brought along some 2,400 of their family members, friends, clergy and faithful.