The President, Mrs McAleese, was among the first of political and church leaders who warmly welcomed the announcement yesterday that the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Desmond Connell, is to be appointed a cardinal.
It will take place in Rome on February 21st, when he will become the first archbishop of Dublin to be a cardinal since Dr Edward McCabe's death in 1885. Ireland will then have two cardinals for the first time; the other is Dr Cahal Daly.
Mrs McAleese said the news was "a cause of great pride and satisfaction to the people of Ireland". The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said the Archbishop's "leadership of the archdiocese has been in a period of challenge and change, some of it difficult and painful", but "through it all Dr Connell's obvious integrity and compassion have served his people well".
The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, said the appointment would be "a great boost for all the people, both religious and lay, who work so hard for the Catholic Church in Dublin and throughout Ireland." Mr Ruairi Quinn, the Labour Party leader, said it was "a tremendous honour for Dr Connell and the Irish church".
The Primate of All-Ireland, Archbishop Sean Brady, said Dr Connell had given outstanding leadership to the church in Dublin. The Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Walton Empey, said the promotion was "a fitting reward for one who has served his church with quiet devotion, faithfulness and in a spirit of fearlessness."
Dr Connell said yesterday he was told the news when the new Papal Nuncio, Dr Giuseppe Lazarotto, visited him last Friday. He was "bowled over" and thought "how my family would take pleasure in an appointment of this kind. I am the son of my parents and I'm proud of them and I will always hope that they might be able to proud of me."
He expressed "deep appreciation" at "the extraordinary generosity" Pope John Paul had shown him and the people of Ireland. That Ireland would have two cardinals was "a very great honour for us".
He said Pope John Paul "likes to trace the ancestry of the faith in the part of Poland from which he comes, Krakow, to the influence of the Irish missionaries, and so he has a great regard and great love for the church in Ireland". He would not speculate on whether his appointment was made possible by the Belfast Agreement or on whether his letter of resignation to Rome in March would be accepted. "I didn't ask to come here [Drumcondra], I didn't ask to stay. I am a free man," he said.
For some time now, Vatican insiders have been suggesting that the "next pope" has not yet been made a cardinal. That remark, based on the fact that John Paul II's longevity has seen the prospects of several possible candidates fall by the wayside due to old age, comes to mind when assessing the likely impact of the 37 new cardinals named yesterday by the Pope when calling the eighth consistory of his pontificate.
At the age of 80 and in obvious ill-health, Pope John Paul II may well have named his successor among those appointees. That may explain his decision to increase the number of cardinal electors (those under the age of 80) to 128, eight above the limit prescribed by Paul VI in 1975.
Pope John Paul has now appointed 118 of the 128 cardinal electors in the 178-strong College of Cardinals.
Given that the Pope's appointments nearly always favour theological conservatives, yesterday's nominations increase the possibility that his successor will follow the broad lines of his pontificate, pressing home controversial Catholic teaching on contraception, homosexuality, women priests and much else besides.
Seven of the new cardinals are Italian, 11 European, 12 from North and South America, three from Asia, three from the Middle East and one from Africa.
The Pope added an element of intrigue to his nominations yesterday, saying he will soon name those cardinals appointed in pectore (in secret) at the 1998 consistory. The in pectore formula is used to protect the identity of cardinals where a public announcement could endanger the prelate or the local church.