The first personal memory of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, John Paul II's Cardinal Vicar of Rome, is a holiday with his mother in the Apennines at the age of 2,5 years.
He also remembers the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in 1935. Ruini turned 90 on February 19. He told Corriere.it that he was never engaged but “strongly attracted by some women,” even after becoming a priest. He tried to resist and “although suffering,” succeeded, “The attraction to women is ineradicable in men and in itself is not a sin.”
His parents were “deeply opposed” to his decision to become a priest. Ruini experienced Vatican II with joy and enthusiasm, “Its outcome has not been betrayed and it is being progressively assimilated,” he gives a scathing verdict on the Pastoral Council.
For 16 years, Ruini was the president of the Italian bishops. He fears that he may have been too heavy-handed against those who opposed him, “When I saw that one of our collaborators was definitely taking a different direction, I replaced him.” …More