Cardinal Ambrozic turns 80

By 
  • January 22, 2010
{mosimage}TORONTO - Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic, archbishop of Toronto from 1990 to 2007, turns 80 Jan. 27.

Ambrozic, a resident at Providence Healthcare in Scarborough, has always valued his privacy and no public celebrations are planned for his birthday. The 5:30 p.m. Mass at St. Michael’s Cathedral on Jan. 27 will be offered for the intentions of the Cardinal.

Ambrozic was born in Slovenia but his family fled to Austria in 1945 and emigrated to Canada in 1948. He was ordained a priest of the archdiocese of Toronto in 1955 by His Eminence, James C. Cardinal McGuigan.

Cardinals beyond the age of 80 are no longer eligible to vote in papal elections. Ambrozic, a cardinal since 1998, did vote in the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

With a number of cardinals turning 80, it is widely expected that Pope Benedict will hold a consistory this year to appoint new, voting-age cardinals, according to Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief John Thavis. By the middle of 2010 there will be at least 12 vacancies in the 120-member College of Cardinals. By November there will be 19.

Cardinals are elected by other cardinals, but their election must be confirmed by the pope.


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