Yesterday evening we had the pleasure of visiting Cardinal Arinze at his Vatican residence. Although he is not going to the conclave, everyone will admit that this is indeed a busy time for all the Cardinals. All the more reason we were grateful that he spared some of his precious time to receive us.

Father Ken Amadi, priest of Abuja archdiocese and doctoral student at Notre Dame University, is working on his dissertation research focusing on the history and development of thanksgiving rituals in the post-Vatican II Catholic liturgy.

Given Cardinal Arinze pedigree as a pre-Vatican II and post-Vatican II ecclesiastic as well as his former role as Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (2002-2008), he seemed the go-to person for Father Ken’s research exploration.

The Cardinal started by confessing that he has limited knowledge on the subject matter but ended up bringing deep historical, theological, and cultural perspectives to bear on Father Ken’s inquiries, leading Ken to conclude that the wisdom shared by the Cardinal is such that “one cannot find in any book.”

When we commented about the impeccable Latin diction with which he led the second part of Eucharistic Prayer III at Pope Francis’ funeral Mass last Saturday, he smiled and said, “There’s no mystery about it; I simply read what the text says.”

He explained that he had that role at the Pope’s funeral Mass by virtue of his rank as a Cardinal Bishop and in virtue of seniority – 3rd most senior after the Dean and Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals. As some people who watched the funeral Mass might have noticed, the presider was the Dean of the College (Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re), while the other two concelebrants were the Vice Dean (Cardinal Leonardi Sandri) and Cardinal Arinze, who is the Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni. When Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as Pope in April 2005, he personally relinquished his titular see as Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni to Cardinal Arinze who until that time had been a Cardinal Deacon.

Father Kris asked the Cardinal why our elder brother Blessed Tansi has not yet been canonized. Contrary to popular perceptions among some Catholics and non-Catholics in Nigeria that Tansi’s canonization is being delayed for racial reasons (“Because he is a black man”), Cardinal Arinze explained that Tansi needs “one more miracle” to be canonized. “We almost got one, but when the scientific experts analyzed it, it didn’t meet the criteria.” He concluded: “We have to pray for one miracle. The British waited so long for Cardinal Newman before the miracles came. John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta had so many miracles.”

Cardinal Arinze gave us gifts of some of his published pastoral writings, a Rosary each, and a sticker of Blessed Tansi. After blessing us, he shared some brief thoughts about the dire political and economic situation in Nigeria: “The pain in our country, the priests can contribute a little at least to reduce the pain and give the people some minimum hope. The politicians are a sad group. But we keep on praying. We have only one Nigeria. We haven’t another one.”

Credit: Omokugbo Ojeifo, 2025