St. Gallen Group
The St. Gallen Group was the name given to an informal grouping of high ranking reformist clerics in the Roman Catholic Church who met annually to discuss themes such as the situation of the Church, papal primacy, and collegiality. The group also shared a general dislike for Joseph Ratzinger and were not keen to see his election to pope as successor to John Paul II. The authors of a biography of one participant called it "the St. Gallen club".
The impetus for the discussions came from Bishop Fürer and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. The discussions were held at St. Gallen, Switzerland, between 1995 and 2006. The group did not meet after 2006. Members are said to have included at various times Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium and Cardinal Walter Kasper, Dutch Bishop Ad van Luyn, the German Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the Italian Cardinal Achille Silvestrini and British Cardinal Basil Hume were also affiliated, as well as Cardinal José Policarpo, British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and Ukrainian Cardinal Lubomyr Husar,
The gatherings were first revealed in a biography of Danneels.
After Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI at the Papal conclave, 2005, the group disbanded.
According to Catholic writer Austen Ivereigh four of its participants whom he labels "Team Bergoglio" worked in concert to advocate the election of Jorge Bergoglio at the 2013 Papal conclave, Cardinals Kasper, Danneels, Lehmann and Murphy-O'Connor, still hoping to elect a more modern leader for the Church. All four cardinals denied this. The director of the Holy See Press Office said the cardinals were "surprised and disappointed" at what was written about them and that they "expressly denied this description of events ... with regard to the conduct of a campaign for election".
The impetus for the discussions came from Bishop Fürer and Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini. The discussions were held at St. Gallen, Switzerland, between 1995 and 2006. The group did not meet after 2006. Members are said to have included at various times Cardinal Godfried Danneels of Belgium and Cardinal Walter Kasper, Dutch Bishop Ad van Luyn, the German Cardinal Karl Lehmann, the Italian Cardinal Achille Silvestrini and British Cardinal Basil Hume were also affiliated, as well as Cardinal José Policarpo, British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, and Ukrainian Cardinal Lubomyr Husar,
The gatherings were first revealed in a biography of Danneels.
After Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI at the Papal conclave, 2005, the group disbanded.
According to Catholic writer Austen Ivereigh four of its participants whom he labels "Team Bergoglio" worked in concert to advocate the election of Jorge Bergoglio at the 2013 Papal conclave, Cardinals Kasper, Danneels, Lehmann and Murphy-O'Connor, still hoping to elect a more modern leader for the Church. All four cardinals denied this. The director of the Holy See Press Office said the cardinals were "surprised and disappointed" at what was written about them and that they "expressly denied this description of events ... with regard to the conduct of a campaign for election".
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