Honduran Cardinal to speak in Tucson on May 3
Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa in Honduras, will visit the Tucson Diocese on May 3.
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas said the Diocese will be “honored” by the visit, calling Cardinal Maridiaga “among the most respected bishops in our Church.”
The Cardinal “has won praise for his advocacy for human rights and for the poor,” the Bishop said, and “he is a charismatic speaker.”
“He is the first cardinal of his country,” said Ruben C. Davalos, director of Hispanic Evangelization of the Diocese of Tucson, who is organizing the visit.
The cardinal’s extensive program on Saturday, May 3, is expected to draw 4,000 people to the Tucson Expo Center.
At an event called “Challenge of Youth and the Response of the Church,” Cardinal Maradiaga will be accompanied by Bishop Kicanas and other leading clergymen.
Invitees include members of the Archdioceses of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexicali and Tijuana and Baja California, Mexico, and San Diego, Phoenix, and Las Cruces, N.M.
Bishop Kicanas will introduce Cardinal Maradiaga at the center and the cardinal will lead a conference titled “Encounter with Christ in a Multicultural Church.”
Tickets are available for a free-will offering of $25 at diocesan parishes. Lunch is included.
A Mass at 6 p.m. will be concelebrated by Cardinal Maradiaga and Bishop Kicanas and participating priests.
Cardinal Maradiaga, who speaks six languages, was considered by some a possible successor to Pope John Paul II. Trained in classical piano, he joined the Salesians in 1961 and earned doctorates in philosophy, theology and moral theology.
In 1978 he was named auxiliary bishop of Tegucigalpa and in 1993 he became Archbishop. Pope John Paul named him a cardinal in 2001. Cardinal Maradiaga is president of Caritas International.