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DOMRADIO.DE: In "Habemus Papam" all eyes were on Tauran, but in reality the Vatican diplomat preferred to stay in the background, right?
Matthias Kopp (Spokesman of the Catholic Episcopal Conference): Exactly, he was a man in the background. But also a very big
DOMRADIO.DE: Why?
Kopp : Because he remained in the background and pulled the strings out there. He certainly did an excellent job in his time as President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
He held dialogue conferences that we would probably never have imagined before. I remember that he invited Al-Azhar University to Rome in Cairo. He was a true bridge builder, but in the background.
DOMRADIO.DE: He was also one of the last cardinals of the curia of Pope John Paul II How did he experience the upheavals of the Vatican?
Kopp : Above all, it was important for him that he could bring the experiences that he had acquired in the processes. For example, in the field of interreligious dialogue.
But most of all, as a quasi-foreign minister of the Vatican, he shaped the Vatican's foreign policy. It was in the 1990s. He took this experience in the upheavals of the Curia. It was the moment when we knew each other very intensely and also did some things.
DOMRADIO.DE: It was also the moment when you already knew each other and you also did some things. What had the most influence during his time in foreign affairs?
Kopp : The most influential aspect of foreign policy was certainly the phase in which he was campaigning for Jerusalem to be the capital of two states – an Israeli and a Palestinian.
DOMRADIO.DE: You have indicated it. He has also served on the Vatican delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the CSCE and the United Nations Conference on Disarmament. He was a political cardinal. How did he connect faith and politics?
Kopp : He argued out of the Gospel – not to congratulate, but to convince. What he read in the Sermon on the mountain and on the prophet Isaiah and the message of peace that he introduced in his speeches at the OSCE and in other conferences [19659013]. It was the most impressive thing: it was he who was also in power. political crisis situations was sent by John Paul II. Where, according to the Pope, politics failed, Tauran was used as a mediator
DOMRADIO.DE: What do you think, for example?
Kopp : This was especially close to the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq. But this was also felt throughout the Middle East conflict in the 1990s. There, Tauran was the versatile weapon of the Vatican, sent to all regions in crisis. I mean that positively.
DOMRADIO.DE: In March 2015, Tauran received his last post as Cardinal Treasurer. What tasks did he have to do there?
Kopp : He had a beautiful title: "Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church". This would have been his task when the pope left the country – by death or resignation – until the election of the successor to direct the affairs of the Vatican and prepare the conclave.
He was aware of this task and also of this burden. He always said, "Despite my illness, I'm ready to take this position." Now he was bought back
DOMRADIO.DE: What will the human Tauran remember?
Kopp : His incredible serenity. He could laugh, it is not forgotten. And: his interest in the other. He always asked someone else: "How are you?" He never focused on himself. And this interest for the other, that 's what I will miss the most.
The interview was conducted by Heike Sicconi.
This article was written by DOMRADIO.DE
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