THE CONSISTORY: Cardinal Sean, Unplugged

Over time, it's been my experience that there's something about being in Rome that really loosens senior prelates up. They throw the "under siege" mindset of life at home to the winds and are just a lot more open in the things they say, the quips they make....

In that spirit, with two days to go until the public consistory, Cardinal-designate Sean O'Malley has been saying some very funny things.

On what he wants to be called: “Cardinal Sean. Bishop Sean. Father Sean. Brother Sean. Whatever.... It takes some getting used to. When I went to the West Indies, the two hardest things to get used to were driving on the left and being called, ‘Your Lordship’.’’

On his fitting for the robes at Gammarelli on Monday: "I said that I could always wear it if I was called to be on a hunting expedition with the vice-president. It's very red.''

In his very memorable installation homily in Boston in 2003, Sean dubbed his "O'Malley clan" which had assembled for the event "My Big Fat Irish Wedding," a line which brought down the house in Holy Cross Cathedral. While he hasn't used that line again (at least, not yet), they're slowly trickling in:

“My O’Malley clan is beginning to arrive, piece by piece... I took my nephews and their wives to Piazza Navona for ice cream."

Tartufo a Tre Scalini, per favore....

While the ice cream must've been nice, Communione e Liberazione (whose American branch is headed by O'Malley's longtime friend, Msgr. Lorenzo Albacete) will be holding a Roman reception in Cardinal Sean's honor tonight.

The cielini will also be partying for and paying tribute to Cardinal-designate Carlo Caffara of Bologna, another adherent of the Giussani school.

Quotes via Paulson.

-30-