Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we spotlight each member of the Conclave in alphabetical order. We find this necessary as our dear Sovereign Pontiff Pope John Paul II grows older, clinging to hope, as we join him, of seeing the light of the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart with the dawn of the new millennium - the Jubilee Year 2000. How much longer this 264th successor of Peter has left on this earth only God knows for sure, but His Divine Mercy is evident in allowing him to be with us this long for he truly is a saint for our times, truly Christ's Vicar on earth in these waning days before the glorious Reign of the Sacred Heart, the Time of Peace, the Era of the Eucharistic Presence, the New Pentecost, the Second Advent, the Age of the Holy Spirit. What 1999 will bring we have no idea, nor does anyone else, but with John Paul II at the helm, we feel much more secure in knowing God's Will will be done. Nevertheless, we want to preview the future Pope whether that be soon or much, much later, for no one lives forever and eventually one of those prelates will be selected as the 265th successor of Peter. This will give the reader a better insight into the man whom the Holy Spirit will move the conclave to choose. Thus we bring the reader vignettes on each cardinal in alphabetical order gleaned from the Catholic Almanac, Inside the Vatican and other sources.
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68. Cardinal Jose Ali Lebrun Moratinos
Having turned eighty a few months ago, the Archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela Cardinal Jose Ali Lebrun Moratinos is no longer eligible to vote in the Sacred Conclave as lives in retirement at the Palacio Arzobispal, Qta. Silvestre, Calle Otama, Valle Arriba, Caracas 1060, Venezuela. Born on March 19, 1919 in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, he entered the Caracas diocesan minor seminary in his early teens and transfered to Rome for Major scholasticate at the Latin American Pius College while completing his philosophical studies at the Gregorian University there.
After being ordained on December 19, 1943 in Rome during the height of World War II, he returned to his native Venezuela where he was assigned pastoral work and some teaching in the seminary until August 2, 1956 when Pope Pius XII announced he was to become titular bishop of Arado and auxiliary bishop of Maracaibo, a position to which he was installed on September 2, 1956. Two years later he was transfered to the Diocese of Maracay as head of that diocese on June 21, 1958. There he remained for four more years until Pope John XXIII appointed him Bishop of Valencia on his birthday in 1962. There he remained for ten years during which he dedicated his episcopacy to promoting vocations and building new churches and parishes throughout the diocese. On September 16,1972 Pope Paul VI appointed him titular archbishop of Voncario and coadjutor archbishop of Caracas.
On May 24, 1980 Pope John Paul II elevated him to Archbishop of Caracas. Three years later the Holy Father afforded him an even higher honor, naming him in the Consistory of February 2, 1983 where he received the titular church of St. Pancratius. The only curial membership he held was in the second section of the Secretariat of State. At the age of 76, he resigned as active Archbishop of Caracas on Mazy 27, 1995 to live the rest of his life in retirement.
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