Wilfrid Napier

Biography

Napier, a native South African, was born on 8 March 1941 in Swartberg, South Africa, and ordained a priest in 1970. In 1978 he was appointed as an apostolic administrator of Kokstad and in 1980 he was appointed bishop of Kokstad. In 1992, he succeeded Denis Hurley as archbishop of Durban, a position he still holds. He chose as his episcopal motto the franciscan phrase pax et bonum which translated means "Peace and goodwill".

Cardinal Napier graduated from University College Galway in 1964 with a degree in Latin and English. He then obtained a MA in philosophy and theology from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. 31 years later, in 1995, the University bestowed the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on him.

During the early nineties, he and other church leaders were involved in mediation and negotiation during the unrest leading up to the 1994 election and was present in September 1991 when the Peace Accord was signed. He was president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1987-94 and 1999.

Napier is a Member of the Episcopal Board of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL). Napier was proclaimed a Cardinal-Priest of the Church in 2001, given the titular church of San Francesco d'Assisi ad Acilia; and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. On 21 March 2012, Cardinal Napier was appointed a Member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers by Pope Benedict XVI.

He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2013 papal conclave that selected Pope Francis. On 8 March 2014, Pope Francis appointed him to serve as a Cardinal Member of the newly established Council for Economic Affairs, which will oversee the work of the new Secretariat for the Economy, the financial regulatory agency for the departments of the Roman Curia.

He is an occasional contributor to the South African national Catholic weekly "The Southern Cross".

AIDS

In January 2005, Napier stated, in comments similar to some made by Pope Benedict XVI, that government programmes to distribute condoms were ineffectual in stemming the spread of HIV. Instead, he proposed programmes based upon the principle of abstinence.

Vatican's views on Africa

Cardinal Napier stated that, to some extent, the Vatican lacks a "sufficient sensitivity to African churches." He said the pope's trips to Africa have helped in that regard, since every time he comes, Vatican officials are forced to learn something about Africa.

Paedophilia Comments Controversy

On St Patrick's Day 2013, in a BBC interview on the Stephan Nolan programme, BBC 5 live, Napier made the controversial statement that "From my experience paedophilia is actually an illness, it is not a criminal condition, it is an illness." Napier clarified in the closing minutes of the Nolan interview that he was very specifically not saying that someone "who has committed an offence against a child is not criminally liable." The cardinal mentioned two priests he knew who were abused as children and went on to become paedophiles. Cardinal Napier went on to say "Now don't tell me that those people are criminally responsible like somebody who chooses to do something like that. I don't think you can really take the position and say that person deserves to be punished. He was himself damaged."

Michael Walsh, a biographer of Pope John Paul II stated that at one time this was the view of many Catholics in the US and UK. Barbara Dorries from Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and, herself a victim of sex abuse from a priest when she was a child told the BBC:

Napier attacked the BBC after the broadcast for being 'sensationalist' and 'putting words into my mouth'. He also added 'I made it quite clear that paedophilia is a crime, and that we as a church have got a whole process in place for dealing with it.'

Napier apologised via Twitter for his comments to Stephen Nolan on Radio 5 Live, "I apologise to victims of child abuse offended by my misstatement of what was and still is my concern about all abused, including abused abuser." He went on to say "It's the supreme irony. Because I raised the issue of the abused abuser, I stand accused of insensitivity to the sufferings of the abused."

Climate change

In December 2011 Napier criticised world leaders on their failure to keep climate change commitments when he said 'We express our displeasure with local and international political leadership which has failed to take decisive steps to make the changes required for the survival of humanity and life on earth. We as the religious community demand that our political leaders honour previous commitments and move towards ethically responsible positions and policies.'