WHEN former master of the Dominican order Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P. heard he was going to be a cardinal, he knew in his heart that he wanted to remain a Dominican.
So, as Radcliffe was elevated to the cardinalate during a consistory at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican on Dec. 7, he donned the simple white robe of the Order of the Preachers as he received his red hat–a dispensation from the ceremonial red cassock.
‘When I heard that I had been named a cardinal, which was after my brethren in Oxford knew, I experienced an immediate and a deep desire to remain a Dominican brother,” Radcliffe said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
Staying true to this ideal, Radcliffe is one of three newly elevated cardinals who have not been appointed bishop.
For him, to remain a priest is to remain a Dominican.
He served as Master of the Order of Preachers from 1992 to 2001, making him the ex officio grand chancellor of UST.
“I asked the Holy Father to dispense me from ordination as a bishop so that I could remain planted in the soil of the brotherhood,” Radcliffe said.
“My hope is that as a cardinal, I will be able, in my small way, to serve the Church in which, as children of God, we are all brothers and sisters.”
He fulfilled this vocation during his high-profile designation as the Synod on Synodality’s retreat preacher during the church assembly’s final session in October, just as his appointment as cardinal came.
“The second assembly was even more joyful than the first,” he said. “The main reason was that friendships were formed that crossed cultural barriers. Even when we did not agree on some issues, we were all disciples of the same Lord and moved by the same love of God and of the Church.”
Radcliffe, who powered through his synod designation even as he was recovering from jaw cancer that struck him in 2021, said the assembly was a “sign of hope in a world which is ever more polarized.”
“Everyone needs to reach out beyond their own ideological “bubble” and breathe the fresh air of open conversation. This we began to do at the Synod,” he said.
The synod concluded its three-year work after 355 delegates approved a 45-page final report calling for the increased participation of laypeople in decision-making.
A liberal cardinal
For some, the appointment of Radcliffe as cardinal came as a surprise as he was often seen as “too liberal.”
In an article published prior to the synod, Radcliffe wrote how LGBTQ+ Catholics only seek “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
“The synodal way is to talk with people, not just about them. Church teaching is already developing as it becomes refreshed by lived experience. No longer are gay people seen just in terms of sexual acts, but as our brothers and sisters who are, Pope Francis believes, to be blessed,” his article read.
The greater acceptance of LGBTQ+ Catholics was one of the issues tackled during the Synod.
But Radcliffe clarified this did not mean he was in favor of same-sex marriage.
“The point is simply that all are welcome. Pope Francis repeated several times: All, all, all; Todos, todos, todos,” he told the Varsitarian.
“We are all struggling human beings trying to love and often failing. It is often fear that makes us slam the door shut, but St John tells us that ‘perfect love casts out fear.’”
Radcliffe’s view is informed by his involvement in the pastoral care of people with AIDS.
He is also a former consultor to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, a now-defunct Vatican department for the promotion of justice, peace, and human rights.
Liberation from clericalism
With the aim of being a “listening church,” the synod invited non-bishops as synod members, with more than 50 women eligible to vote.
The question of who gets to be ordained sprung up during the last session of the Synod on Synodality in the form of calls for women’s ordination to the diaconate, which the final document said was open for discernment.
This exactly was the challenge of the Church, Radcliffe said.
“Our priority was far more radical, to build a Church which is truly a community of the baptized, in which we are all missionary disciples,” he said. “For the Holy Father, the greatest challenge is to liberate the Church from clericalism.”
Clericalism, according to Radcliffe, is the “belief that the ordained are a separate class, who need not be transparent to the faithful, nor accountable.”
For Radcliffe, liberation from clericalism is essential to properly discern issues that have polarized Catholic opinion.
“Pope Francis has said time and again that he wishes to de-clericalize the Church, not clericalize women,” he said.
“Personally, I am convinced that their ordination is desirable and that it will happen soon. But we need a purification of the Church of clericalism before it will be a blessing.”
During his time at the synod, Radcliffe saw how cardinals acknowledged the failures of the church during the penitential service.
“It (synod) really did feel like a new moment in the life of the Church. A turning point, many of us wept,” he said.
“We were deeply aware of how power in the Church, in all its forms, is to be used to empower others and not to control others and never to humiliate anyone.” Reya Vincent P. Misa with reports from Ammiel B. Maestrado
